Just Like Old Times
by DancingOnTheWaves
Summary: Continuation of the manga. Almost three years have passed since Naru left for England but that hasn't stopped Mai from battling ghosts! However her psychic powers have increased dramatically, endangering not just her life but others, and not just the living . . . Bit of an awkward summary. It is mainly Mai x Naru but I've tried to include a bit of something for everyone. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

As soon as she got through the door of her flat, her facade crumbled. She let the tears pour out of the brown pools that were her eyes and tried her best to keep her whimpers quiet so as not to alert her neighbours. She made herself walk to her bedroom where she promptly collapsed on to her bed. Curling herself into a ball she placed a pillow over her mouth so she could howl into it, and although it was against her will, she let the thoughts of that day consume her until she was rocked into a turmoil of ragged sleep. Naru's face haunted her dreams that night and his eyes pierced her straight through to her core, as if guaranteeing her already broken heart was smashed into unfixable pieces.

6 months later

Mai had decided that for her new year's resolution she would cheer up for her friends, she could tell that they were starting to get depressed themselves and she didn't want to cause trouble for anyone. She looked at herself in the mirror, right she decided, time for a change.

A further 6 months onward

She stared at the room. The curtains were shredded, the carpet was torn up from the floor and the coffee table had been thrown and smashed against a wall. The sofa had flipped over and there were little remains of anything else in the room. Had she really done this with her powers? She pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and called Monk with a slightly shaky voice.

Chapter 1

Present day

Mai Taniyama was nearly all grown up. She had grown her hair out so it now sat a couple of inches below her shoulders. Her style had changed from her comfy tomboy clothes to a more on trend fashion, she wore make up now but it was always natural, highlighting her brown amber eyes. At 18 she had just left college and was heading towards University this year. She was currently driving to Monks house for her daily psychic session, her powers had grown considerably in the last two years and she had asked monk to teach her how to control them.

She had stayed in touch with everybody after Naru's departure, phoning them up every now and then to catch up on each other's lives. Yasu didn't attend the same university as Mai but the buildings were close enough so they could go and grab lunch or study together. Masako had gotten over Naru rather speedily as she was now the proud girlfriend of a producers son, whenever they were together you could see how much they adored each other and their parents had both given the relationship their blessing. Ayako and Monk were still exactly the same however there was certainly a something going on. John now commuted from australia and still exorcised spirits on the side of his church duties. Turning right into a side road, Mai pulled up outside Monk's bungalow and grinned as she saw Ayako step out the front door . . .

7pm, The Corner (AN: this is the name of the restaurant Mai works at. I know it's lame but ya know, my creative thinking dried up)

Tucking the black tailored shirt into her black slim fit trousers, Mai proceeded to tie the small, equally black apron around her slim waist and closed her locker door before stepping out on the restaurant floor. "Tables 3, 9, 10, 16 and 21 please Mai" said the head waiter "Sure thing" Mai smile, walking over to greet her first table. Returning to the kitchen she gave the order before turning to do another table. She felt a sudden sensation of someone watching her and she turned, but the head chef was yelling at the cooks and they were obediently following his orders. She frowned. Exiting the kitchen she shrugged of the feeling and carried on with her work. Behind her a pair of unseen eyes vanished in the steam of the kitchen.

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11:30pm The Corner Mai was feeling exhausted. She was also extremely unnerved. The feeling of being watched hadn't gone away all evening and she kept spinning around because of a presence she felt directly behind her. She tried her best to ignore it, seeking comfort in the fact that she was not alone at any time during the evening with all the customers and staff around. Contrasting the lively customers that had now left the classy dining area, Mai was now alone with less than a handful of staff and she was very aware of that fact.

"Um, Haruhi, have you felt like you've been watched this evening at all?" Mai asked turning to her work friend. Haruhi's eyes widened and nodded her head, her black hair bobbing in its pony tail as she did so.

"Yeah, I have! It's the strangest feeling, I keep seeing something out the corner of my eye as well or I'll think someone's behind me." she gushed.

"Really!? I thought that was only happening to me! Hey Takahiro!" A sleepy looking teen about Mai's age with great hair looked over towards them.

"Have you felt like you've been watched tonight?!" He stared back, slightly shocked, "Y-yeah I have. I've felt kinda strange all the time I've been here" They looked at each other, something spooky was going on.

"Hey Mai, didn't you use to work for a ghost hunter?" Haruhi questioned innocently.

" I did but he's in England now so he wouldn't be much use." She replied cooly, "I can ask my old colleagues if they could do something. Although we may just be over reacting" she tried to joke. Unsuccessfully.

They were standing together in a group now, deep in thought.

"Well it wouldn't hurt would it?" a voice asked making all three jump. Natsume closed the locker door that had been concealing her face. She smiled at them "and if Mai knows them then they would probably do it for free right? Besides, I'm really creeped out by it, I don't like being spied on at the best of times."

With that she bid them good night and left via the backdoor.

"She does have a point" Takahiro offered. "Hmmm. Well we'll ask the manager tomorrow night that way we can see if this is gonna keep occurring." Haruhi said, they agreed and prepared to leave together. They were now the last ones left in the buildings and they hurried to get out of it, the presence of someone watching their every move was gradually building up. Suddenly the light bulbs blew and the temperature started to drop.

They all froze and looked at each other.

"Whatever you do," Mai said calmly, "stay together and away from anything that could fall or fly at you."

They stood in a huddle with their backs to each other so that there was a pair of their eyes on every inch of the room. Mai felt a cold space to her left . . . Suddenly Haruhi flew across the room and landed in a heap against the wall, she yelped as a slow burning pain spread steadily through her ankle. Her head yanked up as an outline of a person slammed her head back against the wall. Mai and Takahiro shouted her name and ran over to her.

"I think now would be a good time to leave" stated Mai. Takahiro nodded and picked up the unconscious Haruhi and walked very quickly to the door. Mai gripped the handle and pulled it down. It stuck. She tried again. It stayed stuck.

Turning she whispered to Takahiro, "It won't open." He visibly paled and tried to think of another exit route. Mai was starting to panic. _'How on earth are we going to get out?!_' The lockers started to tremble and shake and Mai had a feeling that the ghost was about to send them right towards her and her friends. She whirled around to the door, prepared to use her powers to open it when an unseen force started to drag her back.

She screamed and struggled to escape. She could hear Takahiro calling her name. Think Mai! She slammed her hands together and started chanting the warding magic Monk had drummed into her long ago. Letting her psychic barrier open a little, she instantly felt her powers swarm through her and she raised her voice as a low howl began to stir in the room. The grip loosened on her arms and she quickly tore free. She whipped around to find herself a couple of inches away from a twisted face. Its eyes were blank, staring her down, the iris and pupil compressed so small you would've thought they weren't there at all.

For a whole second Mai faced off with this unknown terror before her adrenaline swelled and coursed through her veins. The mental shield she had spent months building disintegrated in a heartbeat. Her power flooded through her. She felt alive again. Leaping back she hollered the nine cuts into the ghosts face. With a scream, it dispersed into nothingness but she knew it was still in the room.

Bolting to the door she yanked the handle and with her sheer force of will the door flew open, yelling at Takahiro to hurry up the three friends dashed out the restaurant. Mai slammed the door and locked it shut. The adrenaline was still pumping through her causing her hands to shake. Haruhi was beginning to come round and Takahiro looked to be in utter shock. Mai tugged her phone out her jacket pocket and called Monk, then Ayako and told them the address and what had happened. She fell to her knees beside the two shocked colleagues.

"Well" she breathed, "that happened."


	2. Chapter 2

**Helllloooooo! I'm DancingOnTheWaves and I am literally so happy you all seem to like my story, so far anyway. I will most likely upload weekly on Wednesday so stay tuned! This chapter is apparently a bit violent and graphic according to my friend but I don't think it is too terrible (and I'm the type who hides behind cushions at horror movies) but just in case, you have been warned ! And now on with the story . . .**

**Mai's Dream  
** I was suddenly standing in a kitchen. It looked to be of a professional design with the stainless steel work tops gleaming in the dim light. The layout seemed familiar. . . A scream shattered the ominous quietness of the kitchen. I whipped my head from left to right but I couldn't see anything. I spotted the swing door to the restaurant floor and burst through it. I stumbled instead, into a locker room. This seemed to be the original locker room before they extended it to cater to the needs for the large amount of staff the boss had employed. I abruptly stopped and stared in horror at the scene that was playing out before me.  
"You killed her, you're the one who killed my wife! She was INNOCENT! She didn't deserve to die! You MUREDER!"

"I didn't-I-I-didn't-"

"ENOUGH!"  
I was completely paralyzed with fear, this man was so filled with hate, it seemed to seep into the air from his body, staining it an ugly colour. There was a foul smell in the air. I tried to cover my mouth and nose with my hand but I couldn't move an inch. I started trembling. The man continued to scream and curse at a cowering figure at his feet. Then he moved. I saw the glint of a knife in his hand. He was enraged. Brimming with anger. Malice boiled in his eyes. I had never been so terrified in my life. _Please_, _please someone! If this is a dream, wake me up! I don't want to_ _be here!_ The man brought the knife down on an already bleeding man who was desperately trying to escape. I noticed the rope that had his limbs bound together. _STOP IT!_ I didn't want to see this. Tears were flooding down my face. The knife came down again. _NO! STOP IT!_ The man on the floor shuddered as he let go of his last breath. The man who had killed him spat at the body. I let out a whimper. The man suddenly straightened up quickly, hearing the noise.  
"No. No. Please. No." the words came out of my mouth involuntary. The man paused.  
"It is only fair. But I will make it quick" he said softly however there was an edge to his raspy voice. I turned to run, my body finally obeying my commands but he reached out and grabbed my hair, dragging me back. A scream tore out of my throat as the blade flashed to my exposed neck.

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**3:00 am Takigawa's bungalow  
**Monk and Ayako were watching Mai as she continued to fit on her bed. She had been fitting for 10 minutes now and there didn't seem to be any sign of her stopping. Ayako had phoned an ambulance, after the first five minutes and moved the furniture away from her. Ayako was holding back tears as Monk squeezed her hand. They'd woken up when they had heard Mai speaking to the ceiling. Now they looked at the pale girl whose limbs were flying around her, wishing she would stop soon. Mai's eyelids snapped open and her arms and legs fell silent. Monk rushed over. He calmed himself before he talked to her so he didn't alarm and frighten the brunette.  
"Hey kiddo. How ya feeling?" he tried, just keeping the cracks out of his voice. Mai's eyed welled up, she wrapped her arms around Monk and began to wail. Ayako came over to shush her.  
"It's okay Mai. It's okay, you'll be fine, we'll take care of you."  
"A-A-Ayak-ko-ko! I th-thought I was de-e-ead!" Mai choked out.  
"No Mai, you're alive, you just had a dream but, you had a seizure whilst you were asleep. Ok Mai? Ok? So the ambulance is coming and they'll take care of you. We will be with you every step of the way okay?"  
"O-Okay" Mai nodded as she tried calming herself down. She felt exhausted. _A fit?_ She thought. Looking at Monk, he seemed to read her thoughts.  
"We think it was because your mental shield was broken." Mai considered this._ Yeah, that makes sense_. The doorbell rang, alerting the trio that the paramedics were here.

**11:20 - Somewhere in England**  
The tall man looked down at the sleeping boy who was slumped in an arm chair, book open. He sighed heavily, two years, nearly three away from Japan. Noll was becoming increasingly distracted and Lin had a strong suspicion as to why. The professors knew something was wrong and had tried to get him interested in some of the cases they were working on in England but they knew it was pointless. Noll had started reading more books than usual, some weren't even of the paranormal research kind, Lin knew that the narcissist read to detach himself from reality so to speak, and to let his mind wonder and focus on things so the fact that Noll had devoured nearly all the books in his Father's enormous and ever expanding library was worrying to say the least. He exited the room to go and talk to  
the professors once again when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, is that Lin?"  
"Takigawa?"  
"Yeah, hi erm, sorry to disturb you at whatever time it is-  
"It's around 11:20 at night"  
"Oh, sorry. I hope I didn't wake you"  
"No I was already awake"  
"Okay then. So the reason I called out of the blue is that . . . well this is hard for me to say . . ."  
Lin waited patiently as Takigawa searches for his words. Being a patient man was a blessing as he had to deal with Naru - Noll - on an everyday basis.  
"The thing is, ever since you guys left, Mai has had a surges in her psychic powers. Like not just astroprojecting and stuff, she started wrecking entire rooms in her sleep and having crazy visions about stuff that would then appear on the news and abnormal powers and -"  
"Abnormal powers?" Lin interrupted.  
"Mm-hm. She has increased PK-ST and ESP."  
Lin was silent. Could that accident prone loud mouthed lovable girl really be capable of all that? In his mind Mai was still a frail petite teenager whose massive heart touched everyone she reached out to.  
"So I taught her some exercises to keep it all under control" Monk continued,  
"and she hasn't had any power surges in months but last night her, um, mental barrier, I guess, broke, and she had a seizure early this morning."  
Lin stopped walking. Mai had a seizure!? Was she okay? Did she have brain damage? How was he going to tell Noll? Despite Lin's cold looking exterior at that moment, his heart was beating fast.  
"Is she ok?!" He asked, not caring about his lack of cool at that moment.  
"Well, we don't know for the time being but the doctors will inform us soon enough."  
Lin breathed in and held his breath before exhaling, he often used this method to calm himself down.  
"What I'm trying to say is, we really need you guys back, I don't know if I'll be able to keep her safe for much longer, my techniques probably won't work anymore." Monk paused before admitting his biggest fear to Lin.  
"I'm scared. She is incredibly powerful. She probably rivals Naru right now but, she's really unstable. I'm terrified she might hurt herself or someone else. We both know she would never be able to forgive herself if she did that."  
Lin silently agreed with Takigawa. Mai needed to be in control of her powers.  
"I agree that this is very concerning so I'll talk to Naru and his parents to see what we can do."  
"Great. Thanks Lin."  
"It's fine besides, it would be nice to see everyone again."  
Lin hung up and renewed his visit to the professors with a subtle eagerness.

**So there you go ^.^ I know it's a bit shorter than the first chapter but the next one is longer! I would also like to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed, you are little angels! I'll see you all next week, Byeeeee xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3  
9:06 am - A few days later  
**Mai struggled to hold the bouquets of flowers that she had received whilst in hospital. She looked up as Monk pulled round with the car. 

"That's my ride." Mai said to her nurse who nodded and wheeled her over to the car door. 

"Well Mai, it was a pleasure having you as a patient. If every one of my patients were like you my job would be so much easier!" The nurse said, grinning back at Mai. 

"Take care!" 

"Bye!" 

Mai piled herself into the car and Monk drove away from the hospital. 

"How is the case going?" Mai asked. Monk grimaced. 

"Not too good. Yasu has been swamped with homework so he can't do any research, Masako is busy as is John and Ayako and I have been worried about you so, not much has been done" he concluded. 

"Ah." 

"Yeah, on the upside though, now you're out of hospital, the three of us can get to work!" 

"Awwww." Mai groaned but she knew he was right so she sucked it up and begrudgingly agreed to help.

**Mai's Apartment  
**"Ah home sweet home" Mai breathed as she hauled herself, her flowers and her weekend bag through the narrow door frame. 

"Are you sure you're going to be ok Mai?" Monk asked with concern. 

"I'll be fine. Besides Ayako is staying a couple of nights just to make sure" She smiled happily.  
Takigawa looked around the apartment, Mai now had a smaller less expensive TV and that now seemed to be the trend around the room. Ever since she wrecked it a few months ago, she had taken the precaution of buying less expensive stuff so that if it did wreck again, it wouldn't matter so much. 

"Well okay then but call me if anything happens." He hesitated a moment as he turned to leave, then walked over to Mai and gave her a hug before turning to Ayako. He walked over quickly and clumsily kissed her on the cheek, blushing furiously he quickly hurried out of the apartment before either of the astonished women could comment.

**10:43 pm **  
Mai rolled over in bed and looked at Ayako.  
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on between you and Monk or am I going to have to do some detective work?"  
Ayako huffed and rolled over. 

"Well?" 

A mumbling was heard from the red head. 

"Huh?" 

"I may or may not have certain feelings for a certain shaggy haired bass playing Monk."  
Mai smirked a little. She poked Ayako in the back, who flinched, and proceeded with her questioning. 

"So, how long has this been going on?" 

"Mai . . ." 

"Have you kissed yet?" 

"Mai-"

"Or been on a date?" 

"MAI!" 

"Yes?" 

"Shut up." 

"Well I -" 

"No. Shut Up." 

It was Mai's turn to huff now and she rolled away from Ayako. _'Well I suppose I shouldn't force Ayako _

_to tell me anything'_ She thought, _'I'll just wait. Or interrogate Monk instead._' Mai grinned to herself in the dark and closed her eyes. She started to drift off to sleep when she heard Ayako mutter "It started a couple of months ago, and he took me out to dinner last week."  
Mai opened her eyes and turned over to look at the red head. Ayako kept her eyes closed as her face flamed up to match her fiery hair.

**LineBreak-LineBreak-LineBreak**

Papers with vague descriptions of certain people at certain times littered the floor of the apartment. Folders towered over the three people on the floor and paperclips glinted as the sunlight straggled in through the half open curtains. Three thick notebooks lay open with scrawls of writing and the occasional doodle, the three people who these notebooks belonged to were presently snacking on instant ramen.  
"I think we've done rather well" Monk began, "considering the fact that we've learnt everything we need in 48 hours."  
"Hmm yes but some of those hours were spent playing 'how much stuff can we draw on Ayako before she wakes up'!" Ayako retorted as she glared at the two mischievous players before her.  
"Still, all we have to do now is go and exorcise this thing!" Monk shouted.  
"Yeah" Mai agreed. She looked over the notes she had made in her notebook. The guy who had been murdered was Akiko Amano, he had had an ongoing rivalry with the man who had killed him, Gorou Himura. It had started when the two had opened restaurants next to each other. Things had quickly spiralled out of control as nasty pranks were played on the two restaurant owners daily; food would seemingly rot overnight, litter would adorn the previously spotless floors and bad odours would waft in and hang around in the air for days. The police had been called in numerous times to caution and even arrest the two menacing restaurant owners but they never listened. Within days they would turn back to their tricks.  
Things finally stopped when Gorou's wife had died due to arsenic poisoning. Akiko had managed to put some in to all the food in the kitchen. Not enough to kill anybody, but definitely enough to make them as sick as a dog. Unfortunately Gorou had already closed the restaurant to attend a close friend's funeral, reluctantly leaving his wife all alone in the flat which resided above the restaurant. Asahi (Gorou's wife) had extremely poor health and was already sick due to influenza and the stress of her husband and neighbour's constant mischief and malice towards one another. Her sister, who had come over to look after her whilst Gorou was away, went down to the kitchen one morning to prepare a meal for Asahi and herself, ignorant to the fact that it was poisoned.  
Asahi's frail body couldn't take anymore and she had died, suffering, that night.  
Shortly after Gorou came home and found his wife dead. An autopsy was issued and the facts were learnt that Asahi had died due to arsenic poisoning (found in the stomach). Upon receiving the results, Gorou flew in to a frightful rage and stormed into Akiko's house. He was never seen again. At least, not alive. The tragic thing was that Akiko's wife and Asahi's sister were both killed in the brutal bloodshed. It seemed Gorou had gone mad with grief.

Mai shivered slightly. The most horrible thing about this case was that it only happened just less than a year ago, it saddened her to think that people could still behave so violently towards one another. The restaurant she currently worked in had been built over the previous ones; they had both been closed and bull dozed after the serial murders that took place. She re-read through her notes. She frowned. Something seemed a little off about this case, surprisingly she hadn't had anymore dreams to help them out and every time she thought about her first dream, her head went fuzzy and the picture blurred, the sounds muffled. A slight headache pressed lightly on her temples. 

"Mai?" Monk said as he looked up at the petite woman, 

"Are you okay? You look a bit pale." 

Mai raised her head. 

"Ah, I'm fine I'm just getting a slight headache, it's probably from all the reading." Mai replied,

shrugging off Monk's concern. 

"Maybe we should take you back to the hospital, just in case." Ayako mused as she brushed a strand of hair from Mai's face. 

"Hmmmm." 

A sudden bang at the door was heard and Mai stood up to open it. A whirlwind of papers came flying through the door, in the midst stood Yasuhara. 

**So yeah, admittedly not a lot of action happens in this chapter but you do need the back story to understand the next one. And Naru will turn up soon! See you next week, Byeeeee**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! First I would just like to say I am so very sorry I have not uploaded for absolutely ages, I know how annoying it is to just be getting into a story and then the author just stops. Secondly I am doing my A levels so don't hate me too much! And if anyone else is doing theirs as well, good luck and you'll know how incredibly stressful it is so hopefully you'll understand. Anyway this chapter was supposed to be longer but I figured I kept you waiting long enough without me having to get over a little bit of writers block so enjoy and as my exams are over I should be updating more frequently. Byyyyeeee!**

**Chapter 4  
**"WATCH IT!" squeaked Mai as the papers continued to fly around, some floated out the door.  
"Ah, sorry!" Yasu grinned, slightly embarrassed by his clumsy entrance. Mai ran out to gather up the papers that had floated out the door. She scooped up the last one triumphantly before turning round and walking straight into Yasu, who had followed her out. She started to fall back but he grabbed her waist and pulled her in close.  
"Watch it yourself, troublemaker" Yasu murmured into her hair. Mai felt herself blush slightly as Yasu's breath fluttered her hair, warming her skin. She drew herself away from his embrace, laughing nervously.  
"YASU! MAI! HURRY UP WE'VE GOT WORK TO DO!" came the irritated cry of a monk. Mai opened her mouth to stammer out a reply but Yasu beat her to it.  
"COMING MY LOVE! DID YOU MISS ME?"  
Mai heard Monk groan and she let out a giggle. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, _What was that about?_ she thought, _Does Yasu . . .? Noooo._  
"Mai? Are you going to stand out here all day?" Ayako asked as she leant against the door frame.  
"Ah! No, coming!"

"Why's your face all red?"

"Huh? Oh, um, I, Uh I am, uh . . . really out of shape, yeah. Since I don't have a school to force me to do it anymore, things just . . . anyway" Mai dashed through the door. Ayako raised an eyebrow and, deciding not to tell Mai she had seen the whole thing, followed her back inside.

**8:00 pm, At The Corner**

Mai fidgeted nervously with the hem of her skirt. They had received permission from the manager to carry out an exorcism, even though the manager himself didn't believe in such things, but if it made his staff feel more at ease then what harm could it do? Monk and Ayako were dressed in their ceremonial robes respectively and were each preparing for their own exorcism. The plan was to try and cleanse the ghost first and foremost but if that failed they would hit the ghost with Ayako's exorcism, followed by Monk's, before Mai would join in helping the two throw 'everything we've got at this sucker'. Mai was feeling extremely uneasy about the whole thing. She had voiced her feelings to Ayako who had reassured her but pointed out they were going to have to deal with the ghost sooner or later. She kept telling herself it wasn't the first time they've exorcised a ghost without Naru but . . . A sudden bang brought Mai out of her day dream, making her jump. Yasu grinned goofily and held up his hands guiltily.

"Sorry! I accidently knocked over your magic stick Ayako."

Ayako huffed and mumbled something under her breath, she had lost too many arguments with Yasu about the correct name for the 'magic stick' and she wasn't going to start another one now.

Mai sighed in relief and concentrated on how she was going to take down the ghost. _Ya know, if it does need taking down. _

A headache started to play up in Mai's head and she winced as it worked itself from the unreachable middle depths of her brain towards the solid confinement of her skull, slowly and methodically pounding against it. She raised her hand to attempt a soothing massage. Monk was waiting in the middle of the locker room where Mai and her friends had been attacked. He was hyperaware of his surroundings as he waited for any indication that the ghost was present. He heard a soft thump and he whirled around expecting to see some sort of paranormal activity. Or Yasu knocking Ayako's 'magic stick' over again. Instead he saw Mai sprawled out on the floor.

"MAI!" came the simultaneous yells of the conscious occupants of the room.

Ayako was first to reach the girl and she immediately checked her pulse and pupils.

"She seems to have just fainted but we should really get her to a hospital now, especially since she had her seizure not even a week ago."

"Okay. I'll carry her out to-"

The light bulbs in the locker room suddenly blew out, fragments of glass rained down upon the team. Yasu and Ayako dropped to the floor, their arms above their heads. Monk covered Mai with his body. The temperature started to lower and the lockers began to shudder.

"Crap! Seriously? Now?!" Monk yelled at no one in particular.

"Houshou we need to get Mai out of here!"

"Agreed but-"

A low growling sound suddenly interrupted Monk. The ghost was not happy.

"Come on! Let's go!" Yasu shouted.

Monk hesitated, eyebrows furrowed furiously as he debated with himself whether he should stay and try and fight the ghost alone.

"HOUSHOU!"

Monk looked up noticing that several inanimate objects were whirling around the room, a chair came hurtling towards him, he only just managed to duck out the way in time.

"Argh! Okay. EVERYBODY OUT!"

Monk scooped Mai up into his arms and turned, running towards the back door. Yasu reached the door before Monk and yanked the handle down. It didn't budge. He tried again. And again but the handle remained stubbornly stiff. Monk cursed and lumbered over to the other door that led into the main building of the restaurant. It was locked too.

"Ah, c'mon. C'mon!"

All of a sudden the lockers stopped shuddering. The temperature plummeted further. The breath of the living came out in heavy, ragged clouds of vapour. Monk subconsciously pulled Mai closer to his chest. The three regrouped with their backs to the wall. The darkness around them seemed to grow heavy. Yasu and Monk started to brace themselves for whatever was coming. They looked around the room, searching frantically for another escape route. Ayako however, was currently staring at the corner of the room. A face was staring back. The face was twisted and pale and sat atop a ghastly, disintegrating body. It widened its eyes and pulled its mouth upwards into a grotesque smile. Ayako grabbed Monk's arm, her fingers digging in to his skin, and pointed to the corner. Monk followed her gaze and further tightened his grip on Mai. The growling grew louder.

"Ayako." Monk said calmly. "I need you to take Mai. I'm gonna create a distraction . . ."

"No, you ca-"

"Ayako NOW!"

Without warning Monk thrust Mai at Ayako and bolted to the left, brandishing his prayer beads and chanting, the bulging eyes in the twisted face followed him, smiling. Monk's chanting grew louder, more complex. The smiling stopped.

Ayako struggled to hold Mai whilst Yasu hectically tried to kick down the nearest door. The face noticed the noise, and a sudden dark entrail shot out to stop it. The entrail slammed Yasu into the door before wrapping round his torso and throwing him across the room. Monk whirled round at the sickening thud of flesh against concrete.

He gritted his teeth and carried on chanting. He ran towards the corner the ghost resided in and, thrust the beads straight at the face whilst he shouted the final phrase of the exorcism.

The ghost screeched and disappeared.

But not for long.

Monk's eyes widened in horror as the grotesque face in the wall, reappeared next to Ayako and Mai.


	5. Chapter 5

**I am a terrible person for not uploading, but I love you all so please try and forgive me. Plus you know I am chronically ill so yeah. But I love you. Really. I just have a funny way of showing it. So I feel like this chapter isn't amazing or brilliant and badly worded but I've kept you waiting so long so I felt that holding it back so I could edit in like a month would be stupid. So here. Plus I just wanted to wrap this case up so I could move on to the next and finally reunite our fated lovers Mai and Naru! Because we all know they have they fancy each other and it's our job to make them come together. Anyway. To recap, sorry, I love you, enjoy! Byeee! **

**Chapter 5**

**Mai's Dream**

I awake to find myself engulfed in darkness. Soft light orbs slowly start to rise up around me as I lie on my back. _Ugh, where am I? _I immediately realise what a dumb question this is, _duh Mai where do you think?_ I groan a little as I push myself up into a stand and wait expectantly for a scene to emerge from the darkness and play out before me. Sure enough, images start to twist and form into shapes but - something is wrong with them. I screw up my eyes, trying to make the images come into focus, but they just keep – jarring, and _blurring _. . . the way a picture might distort on a TV screen. The headache that has been my constant companion since my 'episode' starts to fidget behind my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose and try my best to ignore it, _I need to pay attention_. I attempt to focus on the bleary shapes, taking in their obscure edges and desperately trying to think what they could possibly be.

Suddenly something moves in front of me and I pull back from the scene I've been trying to define, a light starts to radiate, and a hand stretches out, palm up, waiting for me to take it. I hesitate but the light is so warm and gentle, that my hesitation doesn't last long and I place my hand into theirs . . . instantly the scene slams into clarity.

I stagger at the suddenness of the change. My eyes fly open in shock. Looking around, it appears too dark to see anything but gradually, as my eyes adjust, I start to make out a bed, a wardrobe, and a man frantically stuffing clothes into a bag. I leap out of the way as he comes charging past me towards the bathroom, _What's he doing? _I wonder_. _Clattersandclanksrattleround the bathroom before the man comes flying back into the room.

This time I manage to get a glimpse of his face and recognise him as Akiko. I watch as he tears back into the bathroom, panic now obvious in his actions, _You tried to get away._ My thoughts are abruptly torn away from me as the bedroom door begins to open from the corner of my eye. Turning slowly to see who the trespasser is, my jaw hinges open comically at the sight of the intruder, confusion spreads through me as Asahi's sister silently creeps towards the bathroom where Akiko is. A baseball bat is clasped in her hands. I start to cry out to intervene when another thought hits me, _I thought Gorou killed Akiko so . . . why-? _I flinch at the loud crack of wood on bone, followed by the thud of his body hitting the floor. _But why is she attacking him? _Ashahi's sister drags Akiko's body out the bathroom, out the bedroom and out onto the landing. I follow her as she drags him down the stairs, his body thumping down every step, an unpleasant flesh cushioned sound is softly audible. An incredibly uneasy feeling begins to grow within me, we pass through the kitchen and into the locker room, I notice another body on the floor, knocked out the same way as Akiko, I rush over, momentarily forgetting that this is a dream, and find she is still breathing. I look at her face and identify her as Akiko's wife, the person's death who I witnessed first-hand. I know she will wake up soon. I know she will die soon. I know there is nothing I can do to help. And these thoughts bring about such an unbearable sadness that tears well up in my eyes and spill over. My emotions wad up and choke in my throat so I decide to move on into the locker room where _she_ is currently binding Akiko up with a rope.

I think back to my first dream and know exactly what is going to happen next. I desperately want to leave and I try willing myself awake but a tiny part of me won't let go, it knows and I know why I have to stay. The case was never conclusively solved so now it falls to me to bring about their closure. Akiko moans as he comes round and Asahi's sister quickly hits send on her phone. She hops into one of the lockers and closes the door with glee.

Despite the panic and fear running through my body, my eyes narrow with anger towards this woman, I can see straight through her plan and know exactly how extreme and terrible the consequences of her actions will be. The reason as to why the ghost has not yet moved on is becoming clearer. The back door begins to open as Gorou walks in and I mentally brace for what is about to happen – PAIN suddenly slams into me. I am thrown threw my own vision.

I gasp for air, the scene fades away.

Another wave of pain hits me again, the darkness is sucked away . . .

**Present**

"MAI!"

Mai opened her eyes and barely had time to register the ghastly apparition in front of her as another shadow slammed her into her, she screamed as flew across the room from the impact. She collided head first into a locker corner.

"MAI!" Monk started towards Mai but was thrown off course as a motionless Ayako crashed into him.

"Ooofff!" he grunted at the impact.

Pain seared hot across Mai's forehead and something warm and wet ran down into her eyes. She clamped a hand to her head to try and lessen the pain, when she drew her hand away it was slick with blood. She gritted her teeth and turned slowly. She was still groggy from her dream. A terrible howling whipped around the room, she heard groaning next to her and lifting her head she saw Ayako and Monk tangled in an unconscious, uncomfortable pile. Mai crawled over to the entangled pair, after assessing that they weren't too badly hurt, she lay down on her back, panting a little from her injuries. _What happened? _Negative energy swirled around the room, becoming more and more twisted, with no one to occupy it, the spirit writhed around in its own self-induced pain. Mai closed her eyes and focused on the spiritual energy that was crashing around the room. Reflecting back on her dream, she knew the events that had happened, she knew why the woman had acted the way she did and she knew why she hadn't left. The question now was, how to get rid of her? Her mind flicked through all the spiritual training she had received but the pain kept working its way through and breaking her concentration. _I wish Naru was here . . . wait that's it! _

Mai slowly started to pull herself up off the floor, she glanced down at her guardians but luckily they were out for the count, _Well lucky for me, not so much them _she corrected herself, at least now they wouldn't have to know. She made her way to the middle of the room, the ghost was still howling away, unaware that most of its audience was not paying attention. Mai took a big breath and bellowed:

"HEY YOU!"

The entity swooped down to her.

"I think it's time for you to stop now, don't you?"

"Never! Others should suffer as much as I did!"

"But it was your own fault that-!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO! IT WASN'T!"

The spirit screamed at her, sending a fist of shadows straight into Mai who shot backwards and slammed into the wall.

She landed heavily. The ghost continued to scream in its own personal Hell, freak shadows flaring out around it. Wheezing slightly from the impact, Mai muttered to herself:

"That wasn't part of the plan." She winced at the pain in her head.

Using the wall as support, Mai gradually heaved herself to a standing position. Breathing deeply, Mai centred her energy and started to let her mind slip into her dream plane . . .

A soft, light started emanating from her body, pure energy surged through her veins, lighting up every cell, warming every fibre, mingling with her bloodstream as it began to rush and pump and course through her being. That sensation she felt, the sensation she used to feel, came back all at once. She felt _so_ alive. Her power started to concentrate within her and Mai focused it into her hands and fingertips, she opened her eyes which had taken on a peculiar quality, and walked calmly back to the centre of the room. The ghost in the midst of its angst, spotted that Mai was still conscious and started towards her, snarling, shadows angled towards Mai's fragile body, suddenly they darted out. The ghost grinned nastily. The shadows however, became weaker and more tattered as they sailed towards Mai before finally breaking away gently to nothing. A howl erupted from the spirits throat but was quickly cut off as Mai touched her fingers to the spirits forehead. The ghost appeared transfixed in mid-air, she looked directly into its eyes.

"What you did was absolutely unforgiveable. But I hope you find peace." Mai said quietly.

With this, Mai shot her spiritual energy through the fragmented echo of a person, vanquishing the darkness before her. A withered moan escaped the twisted mouth as the entity dissipated, but it fell on deaf ears as Mai was already feeling the effects of using her powers so soon after her recent medical drama. Her body was buzzing and her head felt hot and fuzzy, she staggered a little before she collapsed to her knees. Her breathing came out heavy.

Ayako groaned a little as she came to. Her ankle hurt from where she had sprained it trying t get Mai away from the ghost and her head hurt from hitting the floor. But why did her ribs feel so . . . heavy? She opened her eyes. Monk was on top of her. His body flush with hers, his face turned towards her neck and his hair tickling her nose. A steady heat built its way up Ayako's cheeks as she tried to determine if she was going to throw Monk off her or pretend to be unconscious a few minutes longer.

Yasu's eyes flickered open. The world was blurry. And his shoulder _really_ hurt. He reached a hand up to his face to discover his glasses were missing.

"NOBODY MOVE!"

Mai, Monk and Ayako snapped their heads up expecting the worst.

"What? What?"

"I've lost my glasses!"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Seriously?! I just took down a ghost, single handedly, and you're worried about your glasses?"

"Well Mai to you it may not be a big deal because you were born with pretty eyes and 20/20 vision but right now, I can't see, so excuse me!"

Mai blushed and looked away, _he thinks my eyes are pretty?_

"Wait Mai, you took down this ghost?"

She grinned at Monk.

"Yup! All by myself, not bad eh? Looks like you taught me well!"

"Well aren't you the little power player, looks like you don't need us anymore, you can take down spirits all by yourself." Retorted Ayako.

Monk smiled goofily at Mai as tears of pride welled up in his eyes.

"Oh my little girl all grown up and fighting ghosts. I'm so proud!" Monk broke off, as he pulled Mai into a hug. Mai laughed whilst Ayako grabbed hold of Monk's collar and hauled him off, he didn't seem to notice as he carried on burbling away to himself about the very elaborate plan of making Mai into an international ghost hunter. Ayako dusted herself down and took a closer look at Mai's injuries, particularly as the girl had half her face covered in blood streaks.

"Seriously though Mai are you okay? You didn't over exert yourself? How's your head? How's your injuries? Oh my god Mai you didn't use your powers did you?"

"Uh well-"

"We told you not to! Especially after what's just happened! You need to take better care!"

"But Ayako! I had to! Everyone was knocked out and I only did it to reinforce the nine cuts." Mai looked at Ayako with big eyes and tried to ignore the nagging feeling of guilt as she lied to her friends face.

"Hmmmmm. Well. I suppose, but we are taking you to the hospital right now!"

"It's one thirty in the morning"

"We are taking you to the hospital first thing tomorrow!"

"But I have college tomorrow!"

"I don't care. We will be taking you and that's that. I'll inform your college so don't worry about it."

Mai smiled warmly at her as Ayako gave her a much gentler hug than Monk, before she turned her attention to fuss over him. Mai surveyed the room, there was less damage than she had been expecting, just the lights and benches and chairs and other miscellaneous things. She yawned quietly as she thought about her comfy bed waiting for her at home. _Maybe it won't take that long to tidy this all up_ Mai hoped, a spectacular crash was heard as Yasu triumphantly announced he had found his glasses. _Then again _she sighed.

**Shibuya, 23:00**

The smell of the musty office assaulted their noses as they walked in. Dust and stale air and damp stung at them. Naru flicked on a light switch and a dim glow flickered on. Lin caught sight of the boy's face.

"You can't expect it to be as pristine as we left it." He stated. A look of irritation passed over Naru's face.

"I wasn't expecting it to Lin, because, as I hope you're aware, I'm not an idiot."

Lin smirked, _maybe not but you do have a habit of being extremely dense. _Naru walked further into his old office and dropped a file onto the dust enveloped coffee table. He turned round and faced Lin.

"Tomorrow morning I want you to call Mai and the others, tell them to meet here and inform them, we have a new case."


	6. Chapter 6

Ghost Hunt Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile but to make up for it this chapter is really long and I've already started writing the next one, yay! So, er, admittedly this is one of those chapters where the background is set and the ghosts have yet to wreak havoc but Naru and Mai finally see each other again. Cue awkwardness :/ Anyway enjoy and I'll see you soon, Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!**

**P.S please review lovelies your comments always put me in a good mood **

**SPR Office, Sunday, The day after, 3pm**

Masako was nervous.

Which was absolutely ridiculous because she didn't even care about Naru anymore. Besides she had moved on and had the most charming boyfriend who adored her, who cares about Naru and his lack of social skill and his abruptness and how he would stare at you, with his disapproving look, and his smouldering indigo eyes . . . Ah! This was stupid! She _definitely_ did not care.

She reached out to grab the handle but hesitated and pulled her compact back out, checking to see if her face was still perfect. Of course it was. She was Masako Hara, the prettiest, most unbelievably talented medium in Japan, and probably in the world. Anybody would be lucky to have a meeting with her. Yes, why was she nervous?! It was ridiculous! HAHAAHAHA . . .

John, Monk and Ayako stood behind Masako, watching with amusement, as she dithered between opening the door and checking herself in the mirror, and then . . . laughing?

"Er Masako?" Monk started causing Masako to jump. "If you wouldn't mind, we'd like to go in now. Getting a bit chilly out here."

"Of course I was just . . . looking . . . for my-"

"Okay well whilst you find your dignity we'll head in" Ayako said as she moved past to the door.

Masako flamed red and stuck her chin out in defiance. Monk followed, smirking and John smiled sympathetically as he walked past her. Masako scowled at the floor and proceeded through the door into the office. She stopped shortly after she had entered to stared at the dust ridden office. _It's amazing what three years of neglect can do to a place_ Masako marvelled. Ayako wrinkled her nose in disgust, it smelt incredibly musty and she could see signs of damp on the walls in the kitchenette. Monk stepped further into the office and saw Lin, typing away on his laptop in his old chair, if he hadn't been looking as neat and tidy as ever Monk would have thought he'd stayed in the office as part of the furniture.

"Lin!" Monk called as he walked over with a goofy smile, "Long time no see! How've you been?"

Lin rose from his chair to greet Takigawa, a faint smile present on his face.

"Takigawa, Father Brown, Miss Hara and Miss Matsuzaki, it has been far too long." He shook Monk's hand before turning to do the same with John and the girls. After initial greetings were over and the other chairs had been dusted off, Masako noticed that a certain narcissist wasn't in the room.

"Excuse me Lin but where's Nar- I mean Mr Davis? And why have we been called here?"

"_Naru," _Lin said pointedly_, " _Has agreed to reopen SPR at the request of the professors and a couple of days ago, we received a request from a client in London who owns a small chain of hotels. He has informed us that the manager of one of his hotels in Japan claims it is being haunted by something. He has asked us to investigate and, if need be, cleanse or exorcise the entity depending on the situation. Naru called you here to see if you'd be interested in returning to SPR and helping out on this case."

Monk, John, Ayako and Masako exchanged uneasy looks.

"I'm sorry Lin but, well, since you guys left, times have gotten harder for us, financially, so we've had to take up other jobs, most of which are full time so it might be hard to try and get time off to chase ghosts all over the country again. Sorry." Monk looked apologetically at Lin.

John shifted uneasily in his chair.

"I'll still be able to help out now and again but . . ." He trailed off.

"And I'm filming a new series right now so I'm quite busy . . ." Masako said uncomfortably.

Lin felt his heart fumble slightly as disappointment filled him. Of course they would have gotten new jobs. The group watched Lin's face flicker with unregistered emotions and felt a horrible sense of guilt gnaw at them.

"When is this client expecting you? Maybe we can work something out?" John enquired. Silently Lin tapped away at his laptop until the relevant information popped up.

"This Friday at six." The sudden voice startled the occupants of the room. Naru casually walked over to where Lin was seated. He was dressed in his usual black attire except his top two shirt buttons were undone. His hair was roughly the same length and slightly dishevelled looking, his face had changed slightly, his cheekbones more pronounced, and he had grown a couple more inches. He was definitely Naru, just more grown up.

Masako felt her heart jolt a little.

Naru surveyed his old colleagues with mild curiosity.

"I must admit I'm disappointed to hear you won't be able to make it this Friday but it is perfectly understandable. Of course I would like to talk to you all individually about possible contracts, besides, times are _financially hard _right now so a little cash won't go amiss."

The familiar feeling of having their egos abused returned to the group and they smiled inwardly, however much they might deny it, they really had missed Naru and his digs at their personal choices.

"Well we'll be able to come this Friday, right Monk?" Ayako said, nudging Takigawa with her elbow.

"Yeah, definitely. And Mai of course."

Lin felt Naru stiffen slightly at the mention of Mai's name, he cleared his throat a little.

"Yes, do you know if Mai will be coming today? Only we haven't received word from her."

John, Monk and Ayako looked at each other in confusion. Masako looked straight at Naru, her cheeks reddening.

"She may not becoming." Lin and Naru looked at her. She sat up a little more. "After all, you did, er, you know, hurt her, last time you saw each other. She might still be upset, we were her new family but your departure was really hard for her, she must have felt like she was being left all alone again." Masako shifted her gaze down to the floor, embarrassed at her brashness about her friends internal conflict.

An awkward silence fell over the group as the events of the last time they were all together renewed themselves in their minds. Lin already knew how Naru felt about the situation and silently willed the narcissist to keep his cool.

"Or she might just be ill," Ayako piped up, "You know it is that time of year and she is still recovering from her seizure so it's not a surprise that she might still be feeling run down."

Naru clenched his fists and the mention of Mai's seizure. A sickening mix of anger and guilt rose in his stomach, he should have come back sooner.

"Yeah, yeah, that's probably it. I'll go phone her now and see if she's alright." Monk rose from his seat and slipped his phone out his pocket. As he left the room, Naru sat down heavily. His usual hard stare imprinted itself on his features and a deep uneasy feeling replaced his guilt and took root in his gut. He had a horrible feeling about Mai but maybe Masako was right, maybe it was best that she might not want to see him again. His heart tightened at the thought.

**Mai's Apartment, Sunday, The day after, 8pm**

After fumbling with the key in the lock for a few minutes, the door swung open and Mai practically fell through her apartment door. Her head buzzed and her feet were cold and she knew for a fact her nose was red. Today had been one of those days and _everything_ had gone wrong. On her way out of her apartment complex, she had managed to fall down the stairs, at the bus stop, some car had driven through a particularly large and freezing puddle, drenching her so thoroughly that her shoes and socks were still wet. Then when she had actually managed to get to her place of work (she also worked part time at a bookshop downtown, but even with two jobs it was nothing compared to her previous salary) she had forgotten her keys, purse and phone which meant she had no money for lunch and no way of getting into the building to open the shop. In the end she had to go all the way back to her apartment to grab the keys and purse but still managed to forget her phone. She sighed heavily as she chucked her keys onto the 'hall' table before flipping off her shoes. Grumbling to herself about PJ's and ramen, she proceeded to her bedroom where she changed, bundling herself up into as many layers as possible. She picked up her phone from her bedside table and clicked it on. Nothing happened. Mai closed her eyes and exhaled very slowly and deliberately, and decided she did not have enough energy to even care that her phone was dead. Instead she to rammed her phone into its charger and stormed out the room, fuming. By the time she got to the kitchen however, she really didn't have enough energy to make anything at all. She just about managed to fill the kettle and switch it on. Mai had lived by herself for a good many years now and she knew exactly when she was about to get a cold. Already her nose felt a little sniffly. With this in mind she thought an early night might be best and so after eating roughly half of her instant ramen in bed, she was soon fast asleep. As Mai slept, her phone flickered into life emitting a soft glow. The screen beamed into the room as it relayed information to a vacant room:

**7 missed calls**

**12 new messages**

**Monday, 8:13, Mai's Apartment**

Monday morning dawned through the curtains. The sky was a delicate overcast grey, the air held an icy chill. Mai slowly opened her eyes. A terrible pounding was working its way through her head and her throat was incredibly sore. She groped around her bedside table for her clock and checked the time, 8:13. Sinking back into her pillows, Mai contemplated whether she should make an effort to get up. She begrudgingly rolled out of bed to try and get to the bathroom. She stood up. Immediately her head began to swim and her vision started going black around the edges, a familiar heat began to work its way up her neck. She promptly sat back down exhausted. _Maybe I should stay home today_ Mai thought as she started drifting off . . .

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Mai jolted awake. _Ugh, go away I'm ill_ she told her bedroom door. She started snuggling back down into her duvet when a voice called out.

"Mai?! Mai! It's Ayako –"

"And Monk!"

"I was just about to say that Monk, geez let me finish. Anyway, could you let us in please Mai?! We need to talk!"

Mai smiled weakly to herself and proceeded to drag herself out of bed. Her vision swam before her eyes but she gritted her teeth and held tight to her bedroom wall. Eventually she managed to shuffle out her bedroom and across her flat to the door. She opened the door and admitted them in.

"Hey guys, I'm really sick-"

"Naru's back." Monk blurted out. "He wants to see you, he's reopened SPR and he's got a case so . . . yeah."

Mai felt her heart wrench in her chest. SHIT. This couldn't be happening. Oh god. No. No. NO. her muscles seized up and her smile suddenly transfixed itself onto her face. Adrenaline started to shoot through her causing her to shake slightly as her pulse escalated. _How could Naru be back? He was supposed to stay in England?_ Mai felt sick.

Ayako glared at Monk as she saw Mai take in what had been said. She nervously rubbed her thumb along her jaw bone.

"But he's not supposed to come back- he's – he's supposed to be in England with his parents and work over there and live over there and STAY over there! I don't want him to come back! I just got over him! I don't want to see him he's horrible to me! I LIKE me and I don't want to put myself back through that! WHY would he come BACK? WHY? Is he a freaking idiot? Oh wait I bet he thinks we're all gonna go crawling back to him and work together again because our lives revolve around HIM! Well I'm not gonna! I'm not gonna go back to him he is a total narcissistic JERK! ERGHHHHHHHH!" Mai screamed in frustration and slammed her way to her bedroom. Muffled shouting and cursing could be heard through the door.

Monk and Ayako stood in an awed silence.

"Well, that went better than I thought." Monk remarked.

"Really?"

"Of course not really, that was terrible! Were you there when she started yelling?"

"Oh my god this is awful, what are we gonna do?"

Once safely in her bedroom, Mai collapsed heavily onto her bed, exhausted from her outburst_. Oh my god . . . what am I going to do? If I don't see him it'll look like I'm still really upset about his leaving and is kinda rude but if I see him it'll look like I'm really desperate and still care about him. UGH._

A timid knock was heard at the door.

"Come in."

Monk opened the door and sat down on Mai's bed.

"You okay kiddo?"

"I'll be fine, I just need some paracetamol or something."

"No I meant about Naru."

"Yeah I know."

"So, what are you gonna do Mai? We all had a meeting with him yesterday, we called Lin called but you didn't answer."

"Sorry, my phone died on me and I was working all day, plus I felt like crap when I got home so I just went to bed. I haven't checked my phone since Saturday."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

Mai sighed and closed her eyes. She really didn't feel good, she just wanted to sleep and make the whole situation disappear. She opened her eyes and turned to Monk.

"Alright. I'll see him."

**Wednesday, SPR Office, 17:00**

Mai stood outside the door. She still felt really ill but she'd let herself be encouraged by Monk and Ayako, even Masako, that this was a good idea. She scowled at her shoes, why did she say she'd come? This was stupid. She was stupid. HE was definitely stupid. And why was she so nervous?! They had been friends once so why couldn't they be friends again? _Because you confessed your undying love to him and he shot you down_ answered a little voice in her head. Her scowl deepened. She smoothed her hair. She was _fine_. Butterflies danced around her tummy. This was ridiculous, if anyone should be nervous it should be Naru, after all he did just suddenly abandon his friends with little warning. _But he did just find his dead brother so he had good reason . . . But he could have told us! It's not like we wouldn't have supported him! But it was an extremely personal and delicate issue, and she knew what it was like to have people butt in after loss of a loved one . . . But he should have at least told us he really was! But he was the famous Oliver Davis so again he did have good reason_ . . . ARGH!

Mai's head slumped, she'd spent the last five minutes procrastinating over opening a door. With renewed determination she grabbed the door handle and yanked it open. The office looked exactly as she had remembered it, with the exception of a few cobwebs. Since the groups last visit, the place had been cleaned and the dustsheets removed but the smell of damp still remained mixed with air freshener resulting in a slightly sickening floral scent. In the centre of the room sat Naru.

Mai felt her breath catch in her throat as she laid her eyes upon Naru for the first time in nearly three years. To her dismay he looked even more gorgeous than ever.

Naru stared at Mai, taking in her changed appearance, not quite able to believe it was really her, she looked . . . wow. He locked his indigo eyes onto her amber ones and felt a little thrill run up his spine.

"Hello Mai." Naru said smoothly.

" . . . Hello." Mai's voice suddenly sounded very small.

Silence quickly filled the room. Mai avoided Naru's gaze and stared fixatedly at his left hand. He shifted uncomfortably.

"We have a case this Friday so I was wondering if you would be interested in re-joining SPR."

Mai stared in disbelief at Naru with fire in her eyes. _Seriously!? After all this time the first thing he says to me is do I want to work for him again!? _She clenched her fists and tried to smile pleasantly.

"I'm fine, thank you Dr Davis, how are you?"

Naru's expression hardened, he was starting to resent his name.

"Mai-"

"No, no. Naru, just shut up. Just . . . how could you – _eugh_\- do you know what I'm really mad about?" Mai spat as she crossed her arms and stepped menacingly towards Naru. He glared at her but he could feel his heart beat quicken. "Is that you didn't even care enough to stay in touch and tell us that you were okay! I have been so worried about you, you might have been dead or hospitalised again for all I knew! And after all this time, after _nothing, _you just waltz back into our lives out of the blue and expect us to all to drop what we're doing and work, _for you_, _again_."

Mai glowered at Naru, her cheeks slightly flushed from her outburst, she hadn't actually meant to say anything at all, she was just going to decline the offer and put him out of her mind once and for all. Instead she had unloaded on him and was now feeling rather embarrassed and awkward about it all. Naru narrowed his eyes even further at her.

"Not that you're in any position to know, as you seem to have made your feelings clear so I presume you won't be re-joining SPR, but I had extremely personal business to take care of Mai, and would appreciate it if you would drop it." Mai flinched slightly at the harshness in his voice.

"Naru I didn't-"

"It's fine. It was a pleasure to know you Mai Taniyama." He walked away from her towards his office door. Mai could feel a lump begin to form in her throat, this wasn't how things were supposed to happen. Naru paused with his hand on the door handle.

"Mai." He said softly. Mai felt her heart skip a beat, she really had missed him and it was killing her to say no but it was probably for the best after all, right? Naru let his guard down momentarily and gave her a sad look.

"I, I really am sorry that I left you like that."

Mai blushed a deep red as embarrassment and anger and disappointment and sadness all flooded through her at once. She opened her mouth to speak but her words jammed in her throat. Instead she gave Naru one of her looks and turned on her heels, striding towards the exit. Naru winced slightly as she let the door slam behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello! And MERRY CHRISTMAS! OR WHATEVER! So here is another chapter (as an early Christmas present XD) Oh, BTW, if anyone watches Legend of Korra, did you notice that Todd was voice acting in it?! I was watching and was all like OMG IT'S NARUUUU (yeah and death the kid but we're all here due to ghost hunt :P) So happy.**

**Anyway hope you like it and if I don't see you before, HAPPY NEW YEAR! You can tell by my lack of explanation points that I'm not as excited for that. Eugh. Anyway See You soon my lovelies, please review, you know how happy it makes me! (I always sound too bubbly in my intros :/ maybe it's the exclamation points?) BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**

**Mai's Apartment, Friday, 07:05**

Mai tossed and turned, tangling herself in her bed sheets. Her eyelids flickering as she dreamed . . .

_The little boy ran down the hall. He panted slightly, exhausted from running for so long. He stopped as he came to the end of the corridor, left or right? A voice sounded behind him, the heavy irregular footsteps began to pick up speed._

"_I'm gonna getcha little guy!"_

_A new lease of adrenaline burst through the little boy, RIGHT he decided, sprinting off down the hall. Tears began to brim around his eyes, he didn't like this game, he wanted it to stop. He saw the stairway door up ahead, a bubble of giggles released from his lips, maybe it would be alright! Hands suddenly swooped in from behind him, a scream tore itself from the little boy's throat. _

Mai sat up. The dregs of the dream hung about her memory, replaying the little boy's scream in her mind. She rubbed her face and pushed her hair back. A headache started working its way through her brain. Damn it.

**SPR Office, Friday, 17:00**

Slamming the doors shut, Naru walked round to the front of the van and climbed in. He yanked a slim black notebook out of his weekend bag and tore it open. Lin raised an eyebrow at the young man but kept quiet. Naru had been in a bad mood since Mai's visit to the office. Lin had overheard the entire conversation but decided against saying anything as he didn't wish add to Naru's already foul mood. He turned the engine on and pulled out into the road.

**The Hotel, Friday, 18:00 **

"Wow, this place is actually quite nice." Mused Ayako as she and Monk walked through the lobby of the hotel. It was a western style hotel used mostly for travelling business men from the west. The carpets were red with tiny gold patterns running through them, the chandelier glistened on the ceiling and the lobby boys looked smart in their uniforms as they ran their errands.

"We didn't come here to sight see Miss Matsuzaki so would you kindly go and help bring in the equipment," Naru said as he approached the front desk.

"What's the point if we don't even know which room we're staying in yet? Besides you strong men don't need my assistance so I think I'll go sight see a little more and see if I can sense anything, that would be far more useful."

"Ayako wait you don't know where we're staying either!" Monk called after her, she turned around and waved her phone at him. His own phone beeped in his pocket and he pulled it out, there was a message from Ayako.

**Text Me xx**

Monk smirked at the screen. At the front desk Naru was being informed that they would be staying in room 213 and 214 with Conference room B to use as their base. The entire floor currently had no guests as it was where the activity was located. Naru took in the rough looking appearance of the manager, his face was pale with bags under his eyes and his shirt was creased. Something was clearly disturbing him.

"Would you mind if we talked to you about the circumstances we're investigating, once we've set up?"

The manager felt a small sense of relief wash over him. A miniature smile broke the severe lines etched onto his face.

"Of course sir, there's a phone in the conference room that links to the front desk so just pick up the phone and press the button labelled 'front desk' and I'll come up when you're ready."

"Thank you."

"Not at all sir. Is there anything else I can do for you? I can have someone carry in your equipment?"

"That would be great, thanks." The manager bowed slightly and called a couple of lobby boys over, Lin, being rather protective of the equipment, decided to supervise and followed the boys out into the car park.

Naru walked over to Monk and relayed the information, giving him a key card to one of the rooms.

"As I our equipment is being carried in for us, I suggest we meet up in the conference room on our floor in twenty minutes, I'm going to look around."

"Okay then, I'll go find Ayako. See ya later."

**Meanwhile . . .**

As soon as Ayako was clear of the boy's, she located a private area where she couldn't be over heard and called Mai.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mai"

"Oh hey Ayako, what's up? Aren't you supposed to be on a case right now?"

"Yeah, about that . . . "

"Listen Ayako, I'm not going, I think it would be best-"

"No, wait Mai I'm not asking you to re-join, it's just, ahem, this is quite embarrassing but . . . could you go into my house and on my bed is my toiletries bag and some, erm, feminine hygiene products. Could you please bring them to the hotel?"

"Errrrrr . . . .

"Please Mai I'm begging you!"

Mai sighed.

"Okay but you so owe me."

"Thanks! Let me give you the address . . ."

**Conference Room B, 18:32**

A wall of display monitors greeted the manager as he walked through the door. Expensive looking electronic equipment leaned against it, waiting to be set up. On the far right side of the room sat a long desk. Seated at the head of it was Naru, he looked up as the manager walked through the door and indicated a seat next to him. Once the manager was settled Lin came over and occupied the vacant seat to Naru's left. He flipped his laptop lid open.

"Alright, could you tell me about any paranormal experiences you might have had whilst working in this hotel?" Naru asked.

The manager shifted his weight in his chair, perspiring slightly, suddenly unsure of whether or not he should say anything. But . . . these people were here to help so they would believe him, wouldn't they? He cleared his throat.

"Er, well, the second floor has been seeing more activity than normal lately-"

"Wait, more activity? I was under the impression this was a recent occurrence."

"Ah, no sir, you see, there has always been . . . something on the second floor. Usually cold spots or knocking sounds, sometimes giggling can be heard and footsteps will start following as soon as you pass a certain room."

"What room would that be?"

The manager's eyes darted nervously about the room. He cleared his throat again.

"Room 221." He said in a small voice. Naru narrowed his eyes slightly at the manager.

"I take it there's some significant about that room."

"Y-yes, yes sir. Um the room itself hasn't been used since about ten years ago when-"He stopped suddenly, "This is strictly confidential you understand . . ."

"Of course, all clients have strict confidentiality."

"Well ten years ago a women supposedly committed suicide in that room. She had hanged herself on the back of the door. It was said she did it because her little boy had died the day before, his body was found in the gardens, he'd been suffocated." A brief look of confusing passed over the manger's face before he continued, "Actually, I've never really thought about it before but the only place that the little boy seems to haunt is the second floor, not the gardens, which must mean he was probably killed on the second floor."

"Was anyone ever convicted for his murder?"

"The boy's stepfather had been in the hotel around the time of the incidents and he was arrested but there wasn't enough evidence and so they let him go."

"Before you said the boy's mother had 'supposedly' committed suicide, do you think otherwise?"

"It's really not my place to say but I thought it was odd timing that both the mother and child would die when the stepfather came to see them. I was only a lobby boy at the time but I'm fairly certain the father had come to try and convince them to go back home with him. They had a big fight in the lobby, something about drinking? I'm not entirely sure. It may just have been a coincidence."

Naru sat thoughtfully for a moment. He wasn't a great believer in coincidences however the overbearing rational part of his brain reminded him that he didn't have any evidence to believe the father was responsible. He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at the manager.

"Would you be able to gather up the staff who have had any experiences for questioning?"

"O-of course, but, if you don't mind me being so blunt sir, we would like to keep this whole situation quiet, for the sake of the hotel's business."

"We will be sure to handle the matter carefully."

"Would tomorrow morning be alright? It's just we are usually busy in the evenings."

"That's fine."

They shook hands before the manager exited the room.

**Hotel Lobby, Friday, 19:00**

Mai walked through the hotel lobby, marvelling slightly at how splendid it all was. She located Ayako by the elevators and walked over.

"Hey."

"Hey, thanks for

"No prob! This place is really fancy . . ."

"I know, listen, could you come to my room with me?"

"Why?"

"It's just . . . this guy on the first floor is reeeeally creepy and I don't like walking past him on my own."

Mai smiled and rolled her eyes. They proceeded up the stairs (as Ayako had a phobia about lifts) towards the second floor. Upon approaching the door to the second floor landing, Mai suddenly felt strange.

A cold feeling passed straight through her stomach causing her breath to catch in her throat. A feeling of pressure enveloped her torso and goose bumps erupted on her arms. Mai felt like she was being suffocated, sharp shooting pains filled her lungs. And then as soon as it came, the feeling left her. Mai felt her breath escape her lungs, she sank to her knees, her eyes closed.

"Oh my god Mai!"

The men rushed out of the conference room as they heard Ayako's shouts. Mai was on her knees looking very weak and pale. Monk rushed over and scooped her up into his arms and carried her through, laying her on the sofa. Mai felt the sensation of being lifted and carried and tried to say something but her body didn't seem to be listening to her, it shivered from the coldness and the shock of it all. A hand was pressed to her forehead.

"She's a bit colder than normal but it's nothing serious, Monk, go get a blanket so she can warm up."

Mai finally managed to prise her eyes open and they were immediately met with Naru's. She shifted her gaze and tried to sit herself up. Monk came back into the room with a blanket and wrapped it round Mai. She gave him a small smile to let him know she was okay.

"Would you mind telling me what happened Ms Matsuzaki?" Naru enquired.

"I-I'm not really sure, she was fine until we passed through the staircase doorway, and then, she just, fainted." Ayako proactively placed her hand back on Mai's head.

"Mai? Would you mind telling me what happened? And why are you here?"

Mai felt a stab of annoyance at the bluntness, she hated feeling so frail and she hated Naru seeing her like she was.

"I was walking down the corridor when I suddenly felt really cold, like ice was passing through me and then I felt like I couldn't breathe and there was a pressure around my ribs and then it just, stopped. I must have just collapsed from the shock, I, er, haven't been too well lately."

Lin typed out Ayako and Mai's account on his laptop, he wagered it would probably be important later on in the case. He glanced over at Mai and was glad to see colour returning to her cheeks. His gaze flicked over to Naru and saw him processing the information that had been presented. He had a plan.

Naru clenched his jaw and looked Mai directly in the eyes.

"I think you should stay."

"What?"

"You are now involved with the case, from your account it sounds like a ghost passed through you and you felt their last moments. So, since you have interacted with this ghost you will have one of your dreams tonight, I would prefer to have you here so I can hear about it and question you whilst it is still fresh in your mind. Otherwise you'll leave out some of the details."

Mai stared at him with her mouth open, but a feeling of fatigue swept over her, quelling her fire. She suddenly felt incredibly tired. She wasn't in the mood to argue, she wanted tea and a bath. She sighed quietly.

"Okay fine, I'll stay and help. But I'm not back under your employment, I'm just doing this as a favour."

Naru felt triumphant at his conquest, a smirk emerged on his face causing Mai to roll her eyes. He turned away and walked over to the monitors and rewound the tapes to show the exact moment where the ghost had emerged.

Meanwhile, Ayako accompanied Mai to her room and ran a bath for her. Mai yawned sleepily and turned on the TV, flicking lazily through the channels.

"Okay your baths ready, this should warm you up

"Thanks Ayako, I'm not really cold any more, just sleepy."

"Hmm, well leave the door unlocked just in case anything happens."

"Like what? What's going to happen to me in the bath?" Mai joked.

Ayako raised an eyebrow and gave Mai a look that said, 'it's-you-Mai-anything-could-happen'.

"Pfft, I'll be fine. See you in a bit."

Mai entered the bathroom and slipped off her robe before climbing into the bath. The tension eased out from her shoulders as the heat of the bath worked its way through her muscles.

"Hey Ayako!?"

"Yeah?"

"What am I going to do about all my stuff?"

"We can get it tomorrow morning."

"But what about my toothbrush?"

"Eugh. Fine I'll go ask the front desk. I'm going to leave my spare pair of pyjamas out, you can use those for tonight."

"Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ayako mumbled as she left the room.

**Sometime later . . .**

After her bath, Mai climbed out the tub and dried herself off. She walked over to the mirror and wiped off the condensation. A dark figure behind her stepped quickly out of view. Mai shrieked and spun around. Nothing was there. Ever so slowly, Mai turned her head back to the mirror. Nothing. She breathed a small sigh of relief but hurried out the bathroom anyway.

In the bedroom Mai changed into a spare pair of Ayako's pyjamas and pulled her hoodie on over the top. She'd collect her stuff tomorrow from her apartment. She switched the TV on.

KNOCK

KNOCK

Mai groaned. She shuffled over to open the door.

No one.

_That's odd,_ Mai pondered, _maybe it was the TV_. She shut the door and went back to the bed.

KNOCK

KNOCK

Mai went back to the door and opened it.

No one.

A shiver ran through Mai. _This is wrong. _Mai closed the door andretreated to the safety of her bed. She was beginning to panic, she felt vulnerable being all by herself.

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Mai shut her eyes and counted to ten.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

She got off the bed slowly and walked over to the door. She gripped the handle. She could do this, after all she took down a ghost only last week. Why should she be scared? This was only a _sound._

Mai sucked in a breath and ripped the door open.

"Geez Mai, you don't half take your time." Ayako retorted as she stepped in to the room.

Mai grinned warily.

"Sorry."

Ayako tossed Mai a toothbrush.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

"Oh, by the way, Naru said to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

Mai growled under her breath and slammed the door shut.

Outside the door, the little boy giggled. What fun the new guests were going to be.


	8. Chapter 8

**Heeeeeeeeeeeeeyyy, wassup? I am super sorry but all I can say is A LEVELS MAN, OH MY GOD WHY ARE THEY SO DIFFICULT AND STUPID!? WHY WOULD THEY PUT THREE COURSEWORK DEADLINES ON THE SAME WEEK DO THEY NOT THINK WE'RE UNDER ENOUGH STRESS!? Anyway really sorry, but studies first! Eugh, I hope you like this chapter, I think it's quite long so hopefully that will make up for it along with a little scene that I hope some of you will enjoy :D Thanks for putting up with me xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**The Hotel, Day 2, Room 213, 09:20**

"Oi, Ayako, Mai, get up already! Naru's getting grumpier by the second!" Monk yelled through the girl's bedroom door.

On the other side two lumps, smothered in sheets, stirred followed by synchronized groans. Although they were both by rule, not morning persons, the fact that they had stayed up late to finish one of their favourite movies together didn't help. Mai let out a particularly loud groan before unceremoniously allowing herself to roll out of bed onto the floor, she then crawled over to Ayako's bed and half flopped onto it.

"Ayako, get up. You take aaaaaages in the bathroom so get moving." In response to Mai, Ayako turned over.

"Ayako."

Nothing.

"Ayako!"

"Whaaaaaat?"

"If you don't get up I'll pour this water on your head."

"Know you won't."

"Yeah, I will."

"Uh huh, sure."

Mai scowled. Taking the glass of water off the bedside table, Mai dipped her fingertips into the water and flicked the droplets onto Ayako's face and neck. Immediately, Ayako screeched and shot into the bathroom.

"You horrible child! Here I am lending you my pyjamas and this is how you repay me?!"

"Yeah yeah." Mai mumbled sleepily as Ayako ranted. Climbing back into bed she smiled with the satisfaction of knowing that she had at least another 30 minutes in bed.

**Conference Room B, 10:02**

Naru's gaze bored into the computer screens before him. He was irritated, Mai still wasn't up and there was no evidence of any paranormal activity anywhere on the floor. Naru knew these results weren't surprising but when he was in a bad mood, even the slightest thing would set him off. Although he wouldn't freely admit it, he was missing Mai's tea, and now that she was so close and able to make him one, the fact that he hadn't had any yet was becoming unbearable. He drummed his long fingers on the table top, his head snapping up when Mai along with Monk and Ayako finally walked in.

"Good Morning." Naru said civilly, biting back on his usually sharp remarks.

Raising their eyebrows slightly, the trio returned the greeting.

"So what are that plans for today then Naru?" Monk enquired.

Naru slid his slim black sketchbook off the table and flipped it open.

"I would like Ms Matsuzaki to do a walk-through of this floor to see if she can sense anything but we didn't pick anything unusual up last night so I don't expect you to sense much activity. Mai, Monk I would like your help in interviewing the members of staff who have agreed to speak to us, they should be here shortly. Lin, I would like you to do some background research on the Himura family and find out what happened as well as any other suspicious deaths or events that may have resulted in this haunting. After all of you have finished your tasks I would like you to report back to me."

A knock on the door interrupted the group and a maid stuck her head round the door.

"I do apologise for interrupting but are you Shibuya Psychic Research?"

"Yes we are, I take it you're one of the members of staff who agreed to be interviewed?"

"Yes Sir, there's a small group of us."

"Very well, please come in, we'll begin now." 

At each end of the long wooden business table sat two interviewers and an interviewee. Mai and Monk sat across from one of the maids whilst at the other end Naru and Lin sat across from a bell boy. Both Lin and Mai were armed with laptops. Monk smiled warmly at the staff who had agreed to be interviewed, coaxing information out of them as he charmed his way through. Naru meanwhile maintained his cold, professional front, ignoring the shy blushes from the maids and the standoffish stares of the older staff. Once the interviews had been concluded, the group reassembled to share their findings.

"Well, the activity is exclusively resigned to this floor. The most common occurrences are footsteps running down the hall, giggling, objects being moved, knocking sounds and the occasional sighting of a little boy. However the staff have also noted that this haunting doesn't feel malicious in any way-"

"Yeah in fact some of the maids we interviewed are particularly fond of the little boy, they're concerned about what will happen to him." Monk interrupted, catching a sight of Naru's glare he smiled apologetically and shuffled closer to Mai.

"But there were also mentions of another spirit in room 221-

"You think it's a different spirit?" Questioned Naru as he raised an eyebrow. Mai glared at him before continuing.

"Yes, I mean, when talking about room 221 the staff mentioned feelings of unease and sadness, they also claim to have seen a young woman wandering about the room and when making the bed, no matter how many times they straighten the covers, there is always an indentation in them, as if someone's been lying on them."

Naru looked thoughtful as he processed the information.

"Lin, what equipment have we set up in room 221?" Monk asked.

"Just a regular camera and some audio feed."

"Hmm. Based on these findings we should probably set up some extra cameras, maybe a thermal imaging one focused on the bed?"

"Good idea," Naru said as he snapped out of his thoughts, "Monk, Lin, set up those extra cameras, make sure the whole room is covered and add another microphone, I don't want to miss anything."

The two men nodded and grabbed the necessary equipment before exiting the room.

"Mai."

"Yes?!" She jumped nervously.

"Have you had any dreams lately?"

"I, er . . . wait yeah. I have." Mai brought her gaze up to look Naru dead in the eye. They both inwardly flinched as their eyes connected, their hearts spluttering slightly as it picked up its rhythm.

"Okay would you mind sharing what happened then?" Naru asked, clearing his throat slightly. He sat back down at the table, flicking open his notebook to a fresh page. Mai hesitated before sitting down next to him, they hadn't been left on their own for a while and last it happened she had yelled at him. _C'mon Mai just get a grip and focus_, she inhaled deeply before explaining her dream to Naru.

"There was a little boy running down a corridor, he was running away from someone, a man, and he was scared. Then he finally came across a door, leading to the stairs I think, and then the man caught him. That's when it ended."

Mai watched Naru silently as he wrote down her dream's details in his notebook, she absently massaged her temple, becoming aware that the beginnings of a headache were forming. She'd had quite a lot lately but that was probably due stress or not drinking enough or blood sugar levels? She shook her head slightly dispelling the unsettlingly thoughts, she was fine, just tired after recovering from a cold.

"Were you the little boy in the dream or were you observing?"

"Huh? Oh, observing."

"And you didn't dream anything last night? Anything at all?"

"I already told you no."

They glowered silently at each other.

Naru fixed Mai in his gaze as she stared absently into the distance. She didn't seem as feisty as she normally did, her positive energy wasn't as bubbly as it used to be. He noticed how she massaged her temple and forehead occasionally, a side effect of yesterday? Or was she just tired?

"Um Mai?"

She looked up at him with big eyes.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Mai looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why d'ya ask?"

"No reason, you've just been quiet and less annoying than usual so I thought something must be wrong."

Mai's face flashed red with anger and she stood up abruptly causing the glass of water on the table to rock.

"Naru! You know that's really rude! You can't just say that to people-

"Why not?" He questioned, standing up too.

"B-Because it is rude and makes me want to hit you!"

"Go ahead, you won't do any damage with those spindly arms."

Mai's temper rose and she let out a kind of growl that caused Naru to smirk, raising Mai's temper even more. Her eyes flickered to the glass on the table.

"You are just so . . . so . . ."

"So what Mai?"

Mai stared crossly at Naru as he stood smug and tall over her. Suddenly without thinking she grabbed the glass of water that was on the table and chucked the contents in his face but Naru grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him whilst sidestepping so as to avoid the drenching. The water hit the chair behind him, soaking the seat.

After the immediate drama was over, Naru and Mai found themselves pressed together, both breathing heavily from their frayed tempers. They stared at each other intensely, Naru's hand still gripping Mai's wrist. He tried to slow his breathing and ever so gently, he softened his grip, trailing his fingertips along her skin and up the inside of her arm, then up the side of her neck before brushing them slowly through her hair. Mai stood rooted to the spot, not really sure what to do. _Oh god what do I do?! Should I do something back or brush him off? But it feels really nice . . . -no shut up Mai! You shouldn't be enjoying this! You are still definitely mad at him!_ As Mai gazed back into Naru's intensely indigo eyes she decided 'what the hell' and was about to reach up and touch his face when out of her peripheral vision she could see Lina and Monk re-enter the room. She leapt back and found herself suddenly very interested in the woodwork of the table. Similarly Naru cleared his throat and pretended to study his notebook.

Mai glanced at her watch and was surprised to see it was lunchtime, her stomach growled reinforcing the fact and causing everyone in the group to stare at her.

"Well according to Mai it's lunchtime so let's take a break for now." Naru smirked as he glanced at Mai's abdomen before flicking his eyes up to meet hers. Mai scowled, blushing slightly and bit her lip.

"Um, actually, would you mind if I popped home for a bit? It's just I need to pick up some stuff if I'm going to stay here with you guys?" Mai enquired.

"Do what you want, just be back here in time for work later."

Monk laughed and walked over to the table where Naru was whilst Mai just huffed and rolled her eyes but Naru had already turned away, his attention re focused on the case. Mai flicked her hair as she strolled out the room.

"Whatever. C'mon Monk, let's go."

"Aw can we go in a minute? I'm really hungry and tired, I need a break man." Complained Monk as he dropped down into the chair. Immediately he shot back up.

"UGH WHY IS THIS CHAIR WET?"

Naru and Mai stiffened which did not go unnoticed by Lin.

"Ah you know what I'm gonna go with Ayako okay see ya byeeeeeee!" Mai called as she quickly sped walked out the room.

**The Hotel Gardens, 13:32 (Quick Author's note: I'm not sure if I mentioned what season it is in my previous chapters but it's supposed to be early spring so maybe around March/early April. Sorry for any confusion. Actually if I did mention it let me know!)**

Mai and Ayako strolled along the paved path that led from the car park through the gardens and up to the hotel. Despite the cloudy grey weather, the garden was beginning to show signs of life as the budding plants shyly opened to display their soft colours within. Amongst the flower beds and winding trees that sheltered the path from the elements, was a clear blue pond, the water lilies still sealed shut against the gloomy weather.

"Oh wow! Hey Ayako come look!"

"What?"

"Over there! Do you see it? That pond. Isn't it gorgeous?"

"Oh yeah, huh, it reminds me – hey where are you going?" Ayako called after Mai as the brunette diverted from the path to the hotel.

"I'm just going to go look, it's totally fine." Mai walked eagerly over towards the pond, she could now see that it was actually rather large as it wound around the trees that stooped sleepily along the edge. A little wooden bridge swept up over the pond and Mai immediately bounded across to go and stand on it.

"Mai, what on earth are you doing?" Ayako said as she looked with a raised eyebrow up at Mai.

"Clearly Ayako I am standing on this bridge."

Ayako groaned inwardly.

"Yes but why?"

Mai shrugged her shoulders as she beamed down at her. Suddenly Ayako's phone started ringing and Mai could tell by the way Ayako started fiddling with her hair that it was monk. She smiled and turned around to gaze down at the water below her. A dark shape disrupted the clarity of the water, as if there was something stuck to the bottom of the pond.

"What is that? It looks like there's a person down there?" Mai quietly mused to herself. She leaned forwards slowly, peering down through the rippled water into the leaf littered floor below. The dark figure stayed still as the water distorted its image and threw it around the surface.

"I can't quite see . . ." Mai squinted, she could almost make out a face maybe? Or was it just the pale sunlight straggling through the clouds? She sighed. Her head felt fuzzy and she was beginning to feel chilled from the weather. Glancing one last time at the mysterious dark shape in the water, she was surprised to see it had vanished. _Huh, maybe it was just a fish. _She pushed herself up of the wooden railing she was leaning on when she felt it abruptly give way under her weight. Mai shrieked as she fell in to the pond.

"MAI!" Ayako shouted as she ran over. She could see Mai submerged beneath the water but she wasn't surfacing.

"Oh god oh god oh god" Ayako muttered as she began preparing to jump in after her. Suddenly Mai broke through the water, coughing and spluttering.

"Eugh! Eugh! What the hell! This is disgusting and WET! Eugh! I smell like, like . . . I don't even know but I smell so GROSS!" Mai yelled as she ranted, Ayako tried desperately to stifle her laugh but in the end it broke free as Mai crawled out the pond.

"Ya know it isn't funny."

"I know Mai, it's just, and it really is. It is very funny. And you have leaves in your hair."

"It's actually very traumatic," Mai scowled as she pulled the pond debris out of her hair, "I could have died."

"Even for you Mai, I think that would have been a bit of a challenge."

"Ayako I think I need a hug." Mai grinned as she opened her arms to embrace Ayako.

"Do not touch me Mai! Mai! No! No! If you want a hug Naru's only a short distance away!"

"Argh shut up and let me hug you!" Mai shouted as she chased Ayako towards the hotel.

**Conference Room B, 13:46**

Lin sat silently, staring at the computer screen. Static buzzed through his head phones as his eyes raked across the computer screens for any signs of activity. Occasionally Lin glanced at Naru who was doing his best to pretend he was busy, the notebook from earlier that morning lay open and he was staring at it blankly. The pen in his hand flipped and twirled dramatically round his fingers as he attempted to focus on the information before him. He checked the clock on the wall, a full minute had passed since he last looked. Frustration bubbled near the surface.

Amongst the quietness of the room, a light knocking sound began. Naru immediately straightened up alerting Lin who removed his headphones and waited.

Naru mouthed silently 'recorder' to Lin who nodded once and reached over into the equipment bag next to him and pulled one out. He clicked it on.

The knocking sound began to play in a rhythm.

DA-DAA-DA-DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAA

Naru tried to locate where the sound was coming from but couldn't find the origin. He glanced at Lin and raised his knuckles to rap on the wooden table before him.

DA-DAA-DA-DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAA

A long silence stretched out before a reply sounded.

DA-DAA-DA-DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAA

Naru waited a moment the rapped a different rhythm.

DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAA

Almost immediately it was answered.

DAA-DA-DA-DA-DAA

Naru thought for a moment before tapping his pen twice on the table, and rolled it across the surface. It stopped a few centimetres from the edge.

Suspense hung thick in the air as both men tensed their muscles ready for the pen to be rolled back by the ghost. The seconds ticked by and the air grew cooler. Lin flicked his gaze over to Naru and they exchanged looks. The quietness grew. Ever so slowly, a creeping coldness began to seep into Naru's hand. He looked down to see a small boy grinning up at him. Steeling himself, he took in a quick analysis of the boy's appearance, bruised skin, rumpled clothing, slightly bulging eyes. The boy continued to smile up at Naru and tightened his grip on his hand. Naru remained unflinching, and bore his gaze into the boy's transparent one. The boy faltered slightly and crinkled his forehead. Most people didn't like it when he appeared to them, it was funny to see their reactions, this time it felt more serious. He didn't like that. Retracting his hand, he gave the man in black one last curious look before disappearing.

Immediately the room felt lighter. Naru opened his mouth to ask Lin if he had managed to record the experience on camera when he was cut off by the sudden approaching loudness of Mai and Ayako. Slightly irked, he walked over to the door and stepped out to see Ayako and a very soggy Mai marching down the corridor.

"What on earth happened?"

Mai halted in her tracks.

"She managed to fall into the pond in the gardens." Ayako said. Naru raises his eyebrows as Mai furiously began muttering to herself.

"You know some people might call this karma for earlier actions." He retorted. In reply, Mai yanked her hotel door open and slammed it closed.

In her hotel room, Mai was peeling off her wet clothing before stepping into the steaming shower. She let the water soak through her hair before scrubbing it vigorously as she attempted to get rid of the smell of the pond that clung to her. After her shower she got dressed in her new clothes she'd brought from home; dark skinny jeans and one of her favourite old hoodies from a summer camp she'd once attended. She felt better already. Sifting through her bag, she found a cookie left over from lunch and tucked into it happily. She sighed knowing her happiness would be short-lived as she had to return to base. _Stupid Naru. _She exited her room and was walking along to the conference room when she noticed the little boy standing in the middle of the corridor. She stopped. The boy smiled his goofy smile. Mai's heart beat picked up should she alert the others at base or would he disappear if she moved? She tried smiling back. The boy giggled and turned around, running down the corridor.

"Hey wait!" Mai called after him. Without thinking she took off after him. The boy's laugh filled the air as he skimmed across the ground. This girl was much more fan than the scary man earlier. A sudden uneasy feeling passed through him as something in his memory began to surface. He'd tried remembering how he had died before but he could never fully grasp them. He slowed slightly as he shook off the feeling.

"Gotcha!" Mai exclaimed triumphantly as she put her hand on his shoulder, momentarily forgetting that he was a ghost. Her hand sunk through his shoulder and threw her weight off balance so that she fell forwards. The little boy jumped back and ran off. He wasn't in the mood for games anymore. He suddenly felt lonely.

"Hey come back here!" Mai called after the little boy, but he had already vanished down the corridor. She sighed, still sprawled out on the floor she made to stand up and head back to base when she noticed she was outside room 221. Instantly her curiosity spiked. She remembered what the staff had said about the room earlier that morning. Nothing bad or malicious had ever happed whilst people had been in there, in fact the ghost had been quite passive. Maybe she should check it out. Standing up she went to try the handle. It opened. _Huh, that's weird. _Tentatively she entered the room. I was small and clean, laid out similar to hers and Ayako's but as a mirror opposite and with one double bed instead of two singles. To her immediate right was the wardrobe and next to that was the bathroom. Mai walked into the middle of the room and noticed to camera set up in the corner. She gave it a small wave. The room felt pretty normal and nothing seemed out of the ordinary so Mai turned around to leave. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared in the pale blank face of the ghost before her.


	9. Chapter 9

_Am not gonna lie, this was a bloody nightmare to right, it took way too long and for one chapter it is way too long so I'm uploading this in two parts. Lucky you! Seriously though, madness down here on my end, but I finally finished it! YASSSS! Hope you like it, next case is gonna be a beauty! (And by that I mean horrific and dark and murderous, mwahahaha) Happy Halloween guys, enjoy these two chapters! BYYEEEE!_

Mai swallowed her scream. The face floating before her belonged to, or used to belong, to that of a young woman. Her face was bloated and grey, the imprint of the tight noose that had drained her life, imbedded in her neck. The eyes were dull.

"Hello . . ." Mai began nervously, her heart pounded anxiously in her chest. The face continued to stare at her before fading, flickering, as the ghost drifted away and towards the bed, uninterested.

"My name is Mai. What's yours?" She continued, her voice wavering slightly.

No response.

"Do you know you're a ghost?"

Nothing.

"Don't worry, I know it's difficult to remember details about your past life."

The ghost sighed.

"You have to try and move on you know. You can't stay here forever, there must be people waiting for you on the other side, they're probably worried." Mai paused to gauge the ghost's reaction but it remained disinterested.

"I understand that you must be confused and upset and, in pain, b-but you've gotta try and find peace! Or maybe . . . is there a reason you haven't moved on? Maybe I could help?"

The ghost slowly turned towards her and Mai immediately wished that she hadn't, her face was too terrible to look at. Her legs began to shake slightly.

"I . . . can't . . . go . . ." It wheezed.

"Why not? You mean you can't move on or you don't want too?"

"Not . . . y-yet . . . wai . . . ting . . ."

"Waiting? What are you waiting for? Who are you waiting for?" A sudden connection formed in Mai's mind, could it be the little boy?

"Is it the little boy who's trapped here too? Is that why you can't go? Because he's still here? He's your son isn't he? You can't go because you're waiting for him."

The atmosphere grew cold and Mai stiffened as she sensed the coarse tension in the room. The ghost hovered, its blank eyes widened even further as Mai's words pierced through her numbness. An aching pain of loneliness gripped the ghost, _yes she was waiting for someone, who, who was she waiting for?_ Her mind was too foggy to remember properly, _why couldn't she remember._ She was vaguely aware that the girl was still talking to her, _why wouldn't she be quiet and let her think?!_ Frantically the ghost clutched at her head, _no, shush, be quiet let me think! Who am I waiting for why can't I remember? Remember! REMEMBER!_

Mai stared in horror as the ghost started to become distressed, causing strangled, panicked cries to escape from the silent stagnant corridors of its throat. A horrible feeling of loss and sorrow seeped into the room, Mai wrapped her arms around herself in a feeble attempt to reassure herself. _I think now would be a good time to leave. _She edged herself towards the door but had to stop abruptly to duck a glass that smashed near her shoulder. The ghost's anguish was growing and with it, a sudden rise in its poltergeist activity; small miscellaneous objects were now shooting sporadically around the room. She shrieked as a book narrowly missed her head.

Pressing her back in to the wall behind her, Mai side stepped her way to the door whilst dodging certain items that flew her way. She was almost at the door when a loud twang was heard, snapping her head round, Mai just managed to put up an arm to protect her head as a lamp smashed into her. She cried out as she fell back, hitting her head against the wall. Her head throbbed painfully in sync with the pain in her arm. _Damn it! Now what? Naru's gonna kill me!_

At that, Naru burst through the door, his body crackling with power as soon as his eyes fell upon Mai who was curled up, clutching her arm. His eyes narrowed on the pale shrieking figure but before he could act, Lin pushed past him, his Shiki whirling over their heads towards the ghost. The pale woman finally noticed the two new occupants in the room and immediately the wind dropped and the objects stopped flying, the Shiki held off from attacking but still darted around her cautiously.

The ghost became vaguely aware that she had done something bad, looking down she saw the young girl that she has been talking to, seized up in pain. Her sense of unease grew, somewhere in her old dusty mind, a faint recollection flickered, the girl had said something important, a memory began to stir, someone laughing, a young boy, laughing at something. Who was the boy? She felt close to him. A name drifted through her mind. Haruki. The boy, Haruki. A door slammed open in her memories, her mind swelled with emotion and memories, it was brief but it was enough. She grabbed onto the memories, refusing to let them slip from her again. The reason she hadn't moved on, her son, her SON, HARUKI. She let out a pitiful moan, long and painful. The two men in the room flinched, still guarded and unsure of what to do. She turned her back to them, her energy was waning, she glanced back at the girl who was trying to rise above the pain she had inflicted. Guilt and self-pity began eating at her again, she seemed to hurt everyone around her. Fading away, she silently apologised to the girl, from now on she'd stay away from everyone and everything.

Naru and Lin stayed tense as the ghost faded, uncertain of how to proceed when Mai groaned from the floor.

"Ah. Yes." Said Naru as he remembered his reason for being there. He crouched down beside Mai and moved the hair out of her eyes. She flinched slightly from his touch, her head pounding painfully from her fall. Naru raised an eyebrow as Mai averted her gaze, he gently pulled her sleeve up a bit to get a better look at her arm. Mai gritted her teeth against the pain but still hissed slightly as Naru moved her sleeve, already a dark bruise was beginning to manifest on her arm.

"Mai-" Naru began but was interrupted.

"Spare me your lectures Naru, I know what I did was stupid-"

"Incredibly stupid! How many times has everyone, not just myself, told you to not go wondering off on your own? You don't have enough power to protect yourself, you can't deal with spirits like the others can, you may have some powers but you can't save yourself, you're not capable." Naru glared at Mai, _why couldn't she be more careful?_

Pride and fury flashed through Mai and she rose enraged as her powers began to swell and bubble dangerously close to the surface, but pain sliced through her head and she stumbled a little, Lin and Naru automatically put out their arms to steady her. She brushed them off and looked hard at Naru, a small cold voice at the back of her head told her to wait, wait until she could show him what she was made of, when the moment arrived she would prove to him that she wasn't a clumsy weak school girl anymore, she was a powerful being who would kick any ones ass if they thought otherwise.

"How the hell would you know what I'm capable of? It's not like you've been around to notice!" She suddenly sneered viciously, her eyes full of venom.

Lin and Naru took a step back, shocked by Mai's violent retort. Even Mai seemed taken aback by what she had said.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." She stuttered, she put her hand up to her forehead, she had been a wreck recently and she admittedly wasn't doing a great job of pulling herself together.

"Lin, carry Mai back to base, she needs to be treated, I'm going to inspect the room and collect some of the footage." Naru said as he turned his back on her.

Lin and Mai exchanged an uneasy look before he turned around and offered his back to her. Mai's face turned a delicate shade of scarlet as she reluctantly allowed herself to be carried like a little kid back to base. She glanced a look over her shoulder at Naru as they left the room but he was busy fiddling with the cameras and so Mai hid her face as shame niggled at her.

On the way back to base, Mai thought back to the last time she had been carried like this by Lin, and memories of when she had been possessed by Kenji surfaced, despite her embarrassment at having to be carried, a shy smile appeared on her face. A thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Hey, Lin? Um, since Naru isn't here, you don't have to carry me anymore."

Lin silently stooped down to let Mai off his back. She winced as she leaned on her injured wrist to get down.

"Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine!" She replied automatically however they could both see the large black bruise blossoming on her pale skin. Lin looked at Mai who smiled sheepishly.

"Err, maybe it hurts a little but I'm sure it'll be fine."

"We'll get Ayako to look at it back at base." Lin said firmly.

" . . . Okay."

Back at base Ayako fixed up Mai's wrist with a bandage and scolded her for being so careless. Mai only half listened as she continued to go over her encounter with both ghosts in her mind.

"Hey."

Mai looked up to see Ayako looking at her with concerned eyes.

"I'm just scolding you because I care Mai, you should know that by now." Mai's face softened a bit.

"Oh, no, it's not that. I'm just a bit tired and, ya know, shaken from the whole ghost thing."

"Maybe you should have a nap? Oh wait, would that be a good idea after hitting your head? Does it still hurt?"

"A little." Ayako's face once again resumed its look of worry.

"Its fine Ayako, I might have a nap though, I feel really sleepy. . . . . ."

Ayako blinked in disbelief as Mai instantly fell asleep. She laid her carefully back down on the sofa and drew a blanket over her.

"Hey what's up?" Monk proclaimed happily as he walked into base.

"Shhhhhh! Mai's asleep." Whispered Ayako, she stood up and walked over to the shaggy haired bassist, filling him on what happened.

"Damn. Even so, although the ghost hurt her, I don't think it deliberately attacked her. When I went to set up some extra cameras in there, I didn't feel any malicious intent or anything. Just sadness."

"Yeah, I agree . . . . . hang on, where have you been?! I've hardly seen you all day!"

"Ah, yeah, sorry. Well I went home real quick because my manager called and told me we've been asked to play a big set in a couple weeks' time so I had to attend a short band meeting about it . . . . I don't suppose you want to come with me?" Monk asked a little sheepishly. Ayako, who had been frowning up until that point, softened her features a little. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and fixed Monk with a devilish look.

"I hope you're not asking me to be your groupie or anything."

"No! Absolutely not! I was asking you as my girl-" he abruptly cut himself off, realising what he had been about to say. Sure he and Ayako had been dating and messing around a bit but neither of them had said anything about being in a serious relationship. He stared down at the floor his face burning. Ayako looked fondly at Monk, her cheeks colouring slightly.

"Okay, I'll go." Monk looked up eagerly, "But on one condition," She said as she watched Monk noting his now wary look. She leaned into him slightly and looked him directly in the eye. "You will introduce me as your _girlfriend _not your _girl, _those days are behind me." She smirked.

Monk smiled goofily and gave her a hug.Just thenNaru walked in, his arms carrying some tapes from the cameras in 221 but he ignored the flustered pair, proceeding to the monitors and handing the equipment to Lin. He turned round to them.

"Ayako, I think you should go and try to cleanse room 221, we need to try and at least make some progress of moving these ghosts on. Monk, after Ayako's changed please accompany her, just in case. As your power is weaker, the ghost's shouldn't notice too much and it won't agitate them. This exercise is purely to prep the rooms and give a progress report to the manager, is that clear?"

They both nodded and Ayako left the room to change.

"Good. Where's Mai?"

"She's asleep on the sofa." They both looked toward the sofa, at which Mai muttered something in her sleep.

"She's dreaming about the case." Monk stated. Naru gave him a hard look.

"How do you know?"

"Ah, well, you see, Mai came to live with us for a bit, when her powers were seriously unstable, she got so scared she wouldn't sleep because she feared what she would do something dreadful to somebody or break more of her stuff so me, her and Ayako lived together for a bit to help her stay in control. She's also not been too well once or twice so one of us usually stays with her. She doesn't admit it but it must be lonely for her, she's been by herself for so long that I think she forgets other people look out for her and are able to look after her. You know when Masako said we were her new family? She was right. Mai's tough, she's had to be but, you guys leaving did hit her really hard . . . . . . . ."

Monk looked away from Mai towards Naru and saw that the young man's face wasn't in its usual hard expression or smirk but was filled with regret, _his eyes look so sad._

"But anyway, when she starts muttering and moving about, you can be pretty sure she's dreaming."

They returned their gaze towards the tough little brunette as she flailed in her sleep . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . Mai once again found herself standing in the spirit world. She watched a moment as the glowing orbs gently rose around her, she felt the pain from her wrist and head dull. Her heartbeat slowed as she calmed down. A growing sobbing sound became ever more present in her ears until she could no longer ignore it. A little reluctantly she turned herself away from the lights and headed into the dark space from where the crying seemed to originate.

The hotel room she stepped into hadn't changed at all except the one she was now standing in had obvious signs of life. Small toys were scattered below the window, a couple of book occupied the nightstand and pyjamas could be seen poking out from beneath the pillow. _I guess that little boy is her son then._ The crying ceased sounding echoey as the woman came out of the bathroom. She was prettier than Mai thought she would be, the method of death she had chosen was ugly.

The mother's eyes were swollen and bloodshot from her crying. She watched as the mother, seemingly exhausted from her crying, laid down on her bed with an air of finality, and stared at the ceiling. Time passed and still the mother did not move. Mai watched curiously, she couldn't even tell if the woman was thinking anymore, her eyes looked dead. Eventually dawn broke and the birds began to sing but this did not register with the woman. Finally she began to move, with purpose this time. She made the bed and packed all her and her sons belongings into their tiny suitcase. She left his pyjamas out.

Walking over to the curtains, she quickly and efficiently dismantled them, salvaging the cord that opened and closed them. _Oh no_. She walked over to the back of the main door where there was a sturdy coat hook and began tying it round using elaborate knots. When she had finished she was left with an adjustable loop that tightened when a person struggled. _Please don't._

The mother clutched her son's pyjamas to her chest as she sent a final goodbye, she slipped the cord round her neck and closed her eyes . . . . . _Please don't . . . . . . . _She fell back . . . . . . . .

Mai felt tears sting her eyes as she turned away from the horrible sight. After what seemed like forever, the choking and gasping finally stopped. Mai turned back tentatively and cried out as she saw the mother's slumped body. Tears fell from her cheeks as the scene drifted away. Please let it be over, please let that be it, I don't want to see anymore! To her dismay, a hallway became illuminated and she saw the little boy running down it. A sob caught in Mai's throat as she ran after him. Heavy footsteps sounded from behind.

"I'm gonna getcha little guy!"

Mai felt a wave of panic suddenly hit her from the little boy, followed by her anger at the man that was chasing them_, how could you?!_ Turning round she saw a brute of a man, dark hair, dark eyes, dark intentions. His arms were thick with fat and muscles whilst the beginnings of a beer belly were starting to hang over his trousers. Hair seemed to cover every inch of him and Mai scowled with anger as she noticed something else; he reeked of alcohol.

Suddenly a fresh wave of emotion flowed from the boy into Mai and her perspective abruptly changed as she looked out through Haruki's eyes. The door to the stairs came into view and they both ran for it, believing they could escape when the heavy hand came from behind and dragged him back.

"Nooooooo!" Haruki screamed as his Father picked him up.

"Shut your face little guy, you're gonna come and live with your old Dad now. Wouldn't you like that eh?" The man said gruffly.

"No I want mummy! MUMMYYYYYYY!" Shrieked Haruki, he squirmed violently in his arms.

"Shut up squirt, you're coming with me whether you-"

"HARUKI! HARUKI?! HARUKI!"

Both of them froze as they recognised the woman's voice.

"MU-"

A hand was quickly clamped over his face and mouth to prevent him from crying out. Spotting a nearby broom closet, the father bundled him and son in it before shutting the door. _Can't breathe . . . . . . . need air . . . . . Mummy!_ Haruki fought back hard against his father's strong arms but it was no use, he was covering both his airways and the grip he had on Haruki's torso was making it difficult for him to breathe. Haruki's father didn't seem to notice what he had been doing as he strained to hear the mother's voice. A crushing pain began to pierce their ribs, the hollow strain in the chest as their hearts began to beat faster, panicking that they couldn't breathe, _they were going to die. Darkness drew in as they closed their eyes . . . . . _

_. . . . . . . . . . . . Naru . . . . . . . . . ._

"_Mai."_

"_MAI!" _

"MAI!"


	10. Chapter 10

Mai shot up, pulling in a long gasp of air into her lungs_. It was just a dream Mai, its okay, you're fine_ Mai repeated to herself as Naru and Monk watched in fear trying to console her amidst her coughing and gasping for air. Monk rubbed her back and murmured comforts to her whilst Naru looked on, wanting to do something to help but knew his actions wouldn't be seen that way by Mai and so he bit his lip and watched. A couple minutes later after Mai was breathing normally again, Naru grabbed a chair and pulled it up beside the sofa.

"Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?" He asked, trying to sound gentle. He was looking at her from beneath his dark hair, it was longer than it had been and fell into his eyes, _I kinda like it longer though_, Mai thought absently, as she tried to ignore the pain buzzing in her skull. She gazed at him a little too long though because Naru pulled his face into a smirk as she realised she hadn't said anything yet.

"Geez Naru, she's just woken up why don't you give her a minute to calm down?" Monk exclaimed, his arm still protectively around Mai.

"Monk it's because she's just woken up that I'm asking, the fresher the dream is in her mind the more details she'll remember."

"But what if she can't remember all the details because someone is pressuring her and she can't focus properly yet because she's still shaken from the dream!"

"Well I assume she tell me if she's still feeling odd otherwise she's fine

"AHEM! _She_ is fine now and also has the ability to speak for herself!" Mai said grumpily, rubbing her eyes.

Both men exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Monk stood up a little reluctantly and walked over to observe the camera feeds with Lin, Naru returned his deep stare to Mai.

"So what happened?"

"Umm, well it started off in room 221 . . ."

. . . . . After Mai had finished retelling her dream, she remembered the line of thought she'd been following earlier.

"Hey Naru?"

"Yes?"

"You know those cases we had, the one at the church with Kenji? And the 'doll house' one with Tamako?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I was thinking, about the similarities between those cases and this one. Kenji didn't want to move on because he was waiting for his Dad, and that woman spirit was waiting for her daughter Tamako to come back to her right? So don't you think that both the ghosts here are waiting and trying to find one another? Haruki wanted his mother in his final moments and his mother wanted him in hers. Don't you think that's the reason they haven't moved on?"

Naru smiled.

"Well done Mai that's some excellent thinking there, looks like you've been using your brain more while I've been away."

"Er, thanks I guess?" _Naru doesn't usually praise me? Feels nice though. She began to smile back_

"Of course if it was more up to speed then you would have worked that out ages ago like me."

Mai sweat dropped. _There it is._

Just then Monk and Ayako entered base and flopped down in the chairs.

"Well, I've cleansed the room, and the hallway just for good measure, you were right about the spirits not noticing, or not caring."

"Good." Naru stood up and flicked quickly through his black notebook. He moved to the long table tucked in the back of the room and sat down, writing notes every now and again in the margins. He sat there for a while whilst the others discussed the case and checked the monitors. Mai glanced over occasionally only to see his brow furrowed in concentration. Just over an hour had passed before he eventually he came out of his own little world and called the others over.

"Okay everyone listen up. It has become apparent that despite the manager's initial suspicions, the woman, and mother to the little boy, did indeed commit suicide as Mai's dream has confirmed. It seems that the mother was in an abusive relationship with the child's birth father, they were on the run from him. Unfortunately he managed to track down where they were and attempted to kidnap the boy, however, he accidently suffocated him whilst trying to keep him quiet and in his panic dumped the boy in the gardens to be found. The mother meanwhile, after finding out that her son was dead, took her life. The reason they haven't moved on is that their deaths were sudden and traumatic and they are waiting for each other to find them but lack the means to do so hence why they're just hanging around, wrapped up in their residual feelings."

There was a pause as the team took in the short tragedy of the case.

"It's so sad . . . ." Mai whispered, more to herself than others.

"Well that explains that feeling in the room and their behaviour. I assume we'll definitely be doing a cleansing then?" Ayako said.

"Exactly. As Mai and I both came to the same conclusion, we'll be performing a cleansing which she will handle."

"WHAT?" The room said in unison. Naru felt a flicker of irritation pass over his face.

"She is the only one who can do it."

"But what about me!?" Monk cried, "I'm plenty capable and more experienced-"

"Yet you still can't handle this."

"But it's not like Mai can do it! She doesn't even know how!"

"If you don't like the way I run my investigation feel free to leave."

"Hey now wait a minute-!"

"Why don't we just let Naru explain what he means?" Mai said coldly. The bickering immediately died down and they turned awkwardly to face Naru and Mai

"Mai is often the one who interacts with the spirits on our cases, she seems to attract them and form a bond with them, usually a pleasant one where they are able to guide her to understand their thoughts and wishes. This case is no exception and she has connected with these two spirits that reside here. My plan is for Mai to talk to the two spirits to help them find one another and when they do, they will undoubtedly move on."

"So? Anyone can do that, why does it still have to be only Mai?"

"She'll be going to the spirits directly, acting as a kind of bridge between them since she has interacted and communicated with both of them. She'll use astral projection, Monk's been telling me you can almost use it at will?"

Mai shot a look at Monk, who suddenly became very interested in the ceiling.

"Yeah, but I haven't full mastered it."

"It will be fine." Naru said reassuringly to Mai. She blushed faintly. "Once on the astral plan, you will try to make contact with both spirits and hopefully reunite them there together. Whist you do that Monk will perform a cleansing charm just as back up and hopefully as a gentle persuasion to help them move on. However this will all take place tomorrow morning as Mai needs to prepare herself." He turned to look at her, "As you are still an amateur at astral projection, it would be best for you to prepare yourself in the easiest way possible which means no sleep for you tonight."

"Aw man." Mai said hanging her head.

"You'll be fine Mai, it's just one night." Naru retorted. Mai glared at him.

"Anyway, for now let's take a break, you're all free to get dinner. Lin and I will watch the base."

Later that night, Mai lay awake on top of her bed, desperately trying to follow the plot of the book she was reading but failing drastically. She flung it down beside her and groaned. _Stupid Naru, not letting me sleep_. Her mind began to wander, her head suddenly filled with the interactions she had had with him since he got back and she groaned again at the embarrassment of them all. Deciding to clear her head, Mai left the room and walked out into the gardens. They were exceptionally beautiful by moonlight. Deliberately avoiding the bridge and the pond altogether, she strolled through the archways that had been created by the trees, humming contently to herself.

A rustle from the overhead branches made her startle, looking up she saw a bird fly off into the night. She smiled and turned back around when a dark figure caught her eye. She stopped, were her eyes playing tricks on her? She stained to see in the darkness. Slowly, it lifted a hand towards her, a faint whisper came from its mouth:

"Mai . . ."

She bolted. Tearing through the archways she arrived quickly at the hotel's back entrance. She panted, looking about frantically, she couldn't see any-

The figure stood amongst the trees watching her.

Adrenaline renewed itself in her veins and she ran inside, up the stairs and into base. Lin startled at her sudden appearance.

"Mai, what are you doing?"

He watched confused as she gasped for breath.

"N-Nothing. Just, went for a stroll. That turned into a run." She panted.

He gave her one of his special, 'I don't believe you' looks but turned around all the same. Mai sat with Lin for the rest of the night, watching the monitors, especially the hallways, trying to shake off her earlier encounter with the figure in the garden. When daylight broke she breathed a sigh of relief.

Mai looked with suspicion at Naru who merely twitched an eyebrow as she sat down on the threshold between 221 and the second floor corridor. She faced the doorframe and held out both her hands to each spirit on either side of her. Naru watched her, interested from a scientific point of view. Ignoring his watchful gaze, Mai closed her eyes and listened to Monk's chanting, fatigue was taking hold of her, astral projecting was basically her falling asleep but trying to keep her mind in control, like lucid dreaming. She would also be faintly aware of what was happening around her body in the physical world. Keeping her mind open, she slowly found herself falling . . . . . . Opening her eyes she found she'd achieved her aim. Light orbs brushed past her as they rose steadily. Right, time to find them. She ran into the darkness.

Haruki sat miserably on the floor, something was happening and the new people had something to do with it. He didn't like it, it made him scared. He hugged his knees, he wished his mummy was here. He just wanted to go home.

"Hey there."

He started and looked up. Standing there was that girl from earlier, the one who he'd played with but, how was she here?

"I'm Mai, what's your name?" She smiled warmly at him.

"H-Haruki."

"Hello Haruki, I've come to reunite you with your mother."

"Really?!"

"Really really. I know you must be lonely being here by yourself and your mother's been looking for you. She's very worried. Let's go see her okay?" Mai held out her hand and Haruki went to take it when he remembered what had happened the last time he had trusted someone.

"How do I know I can trust you? You're just some stranger, I trusted my father and look what he did to me!" Mai watched sadly as tiny tears began to drip down Haruki's cheeks. She smiled kindly at him again.

"Hmmm. Well," Mai began sitting down, "I have a special ability to see thing others can't, for instance I was able to see what happened to you and how your father accidently suffocated you . . . and I can also see your mum and how she was so upset that she lost you. That's why I'm here, I'm here to help you. I know you're probably scared but it will be alright, I promise. My job is to help those who've lost their way, I will definitely reunite you with your mother."

Haruki looked at the kind girl who was giving him a determined look, he felt that he could trust her, that she would help him. A soft glow seemed to radiate about her and he suddenly felt tired, he didn't really want to stay in the physical world any longer, he wanted to move on, to be at peace.

"Okay." He took her hand and together they drifted into the spirit plane.

Line and Naru watched Mai with interest as her skin dulled and paled. They had a camera pointed at her as well as a thermal imaging one, both set up to record any notable changes that may occur when one astral projects.

Wandering round the spirit plane, Mai and Haruki were searching for his mother.

"Where's your mum Haruki? I can't seem to locate her." She closed her eyes and tried to focus her vision. _C'mon, c'mon, where are you? _

She felt a sudden pull in her gut and she was falling again. She and Haruki now found themselves standing in room 221. Looking around, feeling dazed, she finally located Haruki's mother. She was curled up in the corner, a dark aura of self-pity creeping about her.

"Mummy!"

"Go away spirit, my son is dead. He was taken from me because I failed to protect him, my precious boy."

"But mum!"

"NO! Leave me to rot, I deserve it after what I've done!"

"But your son is here! He wants to move on with you, to be happy together once again."

"GO AWAY!"

Mai felt desperate, here was this woman's son and she wouldn't even look at him, they were so close they couldn't give up now! As she thought frantically about how to resolve the situation, Haruki bent down and gently guided his mother's hand to his face and pressed it against his cheek.

"Please Mummy, let's go, we can move on and be happy again, just please, please look at me." Haruki sobbed quietly.

After a few long moments, he ever so slightly felt his mother's hand squeeze his. He looked up hopeful, slowly she turned her head a fraction to look at him. Immediately her eyes widened with recognition, the slight impression of happiness imprinted on her face.

"Haruki?! It's you isn't it!? It's really you!"

A soft golden glow enveloped the two as they wrapped each other in their arms, light filtered down and gently the two dissolved, finding peace at last. Mai smiled to herself and basked in the warmth before she felt them move on, the neutral feeling of the plane surrounding her once again.

The first thing Mai noticed as she came round, was that her cheeks were wet. The second thing was that she now had a massive pain in her neck from being slumped over at an awkward angle for who knows how long.

"Owwwww." She groaned as she rubbed the sore spot.

"Hey welcome back!" Mai lifted her head to look at Monk who was beaming down at her.

"How ya feeling?"

"Ridiculously sore."

"Ah well, suck it up, you actually did it and moved those little spirits on." Said Ayako casually as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. Mai shot her a look.

"Thanks." She snapped although she felt a little pleased with herself. Monk offered his hand and helped her to her feet. She winced as the blood pounded through her head after she'd been sitting down too long.

"You okay?"

"Just head rush, oww." Mai looked around and noticed the absence of two men and the camera that had been recording her. "Hey, where's Naru and Lin?"

"Well since the case is over Naru went to tell the manager and of course, Lin went with him."

"Oh."

"Well," Monk said stretching, "I guess we better go take down the equipment, case closed."

Naru and Mai stood next to each other outside, they were watching the others pack away the equipment.

"I get why Mai can't help but why aren't you doing anything Naru?" Monk grunted as he heaved a monitor into the van.

"Because Mai needs supervising, and I'm paying you. I can do what I like."

Mai stifled a giggle, she could practically hear the rolling of Monk eyes.

"This case was shorter than I expected it to be." Mai sighed.

"Why, do you feel we're not finished here?" Naru enquired.

"No, the spirits have definitely moved on it's just . . . . I dunno. It's nothing I guess, just feeling melancholic."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

Mai fidgeted with the bandage on her arm, she wasn't really sure what to do. Technically she wasn't part of the team anymore and wouldn't be joining them on the next case, giving her no justifiable reason to see Naru again. She bit her lip, maybe she should reluctantly re-join but she wasn't sure she'd feel comfortable with letting this back into her life again. Suddenly Ayako was calling her over. Time to go. She turned awkwardly to Naru and, after debating internally for a bit, stuck out her hand.

"It was nice to work with you again. I guess I'll . . . see you around?"

"Maybe. I'll send your pay check later today. Goodbye Mai, was nice to see you." He shook her hand before turning sharply and walked over to the van.

Mai watched him go, disappointment nudged at her but she batted it away, what had she expected? Of course this was going to happen. She turned away and got into Monk's car, as they drove off she thought she saw a shadow in the window of the second floor but when she blinked it had gone. She shook her head and put it down to tiredness. She slept the rest of the car ride home.

**1 ½ week later**

Mai sat on the sofa in front of her laptop, her head kept nodding but her pride wouldn't allow her to go to bed, after all it was only half eight. The phone rang in her apartment causing her to jump a little.

"Hello?"

"Mai, it's me."

Her heart flinched a little as Naru's muffled voice came down the line.

"Oh, hey. How's it going?"

"Fine. I need you to come and work for me on another case, th-

"I don't know Naru . . . it's just, uh, its-

"They really need your abilities for this one, it's a very malicious spirit and I wouldn't ask you to put yourself in danger like this but," Naru hesitated before continuing, which caused Mai to properly pay attention, "People have been seriously hurt here, already Lin, John and Masako have had trips to the hospital

"Oh my god are they alright?!"

"Lin's fine, just some flesh wounds, Johns alright as well but Masako's being kept overnight as a precaution. Slight head trauma."

"Oh my gosh . . ." Mai breathed to herself.

"Mai? I am very much against putting you in this much danger but the others really do need your abilities here

"Okay. Sure, where are you guys?"

"Get a pen and paper, you'll need to write this down . . ."

_OOOOHHHHHH a new case! It will be a big, dark, violent, twisty-turny, mad, murderous case! With lots of injuries and epic fighting and gruesome murders and all that good stuff. I've been holding back on this but now it is time to unleash it! Ugh, I am really looking forward to writing it, hopefully you guys will enjoy it and if you have any location ideas, like where should this grand, brutal case take place, leave a comment because I'm torn between several ideas and I'm horribly indecisive. Thanks for reading!_


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